DVD Decrypter is a deprecated software application for Microsoft Windows that can create backup

disk image A disk image, in computing, is a computer file containing the contents and structure of a disk volume or of an entire data storage device, such as a hard disk drive, tape drive, floppy disk, optical disc, or USB flash drive. A disk image is us ...

s of the DVD-Video structure of

DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for Digital Video Disc or Digital Versatile Disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any kind ...

s. It can be used to make a copy of any DVD protected with

Content Scrambling System The Content Scramble System (CSS) is a digital rights management (DRM) and encryption system employed on many commercially produced DVD-Video discs. CSS utilizes a proprietary 40-bit stream cipher algorithm. The system was introduced around ...

(CSS). The program can also record images to disc — functionality that the author has now incorporated into a separate product called ImgBurn. The software also allows a copy of a region-specific DVD to be made region free. It also removes Macrovision content protection, CSS, region codes, and user operation prohibition.

Legality in the United States

As DVD Decrypter facilitates the removal of copy restrictions, certain uses may be illegal under the United States

Digital Millennium Copyright Act The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) is a 1998 United States copyright law that implements two 1996 treaties of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). It criminalizes production and dissemination of technology, devices, or ...

unless making copies that are covered under the

Fair Use Fair use is a doctrine in United States law that permits limited use of copyrighted material without having to first acquire permission from the copyright holder. Fair use is one of the limitations to copyright intended to balance the interests ...

doctrine (or in some cases illegal even when making copies under fair use). In countries without similar laws there may not be any legal restrictions. On June 6, 2005, the developer, Lightning UK!, announced via the CD Freaks website that he received a cease and desist letter from

Macrovision TiVo Corporation, formerly known as the Rovi Corporation and Macrovision Solutions Corporation, was an American technology company. Headquartered in San Jose, California, the company is primarily involved in licensing its intellectual property ...

. He later stated it was within his best interests to comply with the letter, and stopped development of the program. By June 7, 2005, a

mirror A mirror or looking glass is an object that reflects an image. Light that bounces off a mirror will show an image of whatever is in front of it, when focused through the lens of the eye or a camera. Mirrors reverse the direction of the im ...

site was up, which allowed people to download the final version (3.5.4.0). On November 27, 2005, Afterdawn.com, a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

website, announced that it complied with a letter received from Macrovision demanding that DVD Decrypter be taken down from its site. Under United States federal law, making a backup copy of a DVD-Video or an

audio CD Compact Disc Digital Audio (CDDA or CD-DA), also known as Digital Audio Compact Disc or simply as Audio CD, is the standard format for audio compact discs. The standard is defined in the ''Red Book'', one of a series of Rainbow Books (named ...

by a consumer is legal under

fair use Fair use is a doctrine in United States law that permits limited use of copyrighted material without having to first acquire permission from the copyright holder. Fair use is one of the limitations to copyright intended to balance the interests ...

protection. However, this provision of United States law conflicts with the

prohibition of so-called "circumvention measures" of

copy protection Copy protection, also known as content protection, copy prevention and copy restriction, describes measures to enforce copyright by preventing the reproduction of software, films, music, and other media. Copy protection is most commonly found o ...

s. In the "321" case, Federal District Judge Susan Illston of the

Northern District of California The United States District Court for the Northern District of California (in case citations, N.D. Cal.) is the federal United States district court whose jurisdiction comprises the following counties of California: Alameda, Contra Costa, De ...

, ruled that the backup copies made with software such as DVD Decrypter are legal but that distribution of the software used to make them is illegal. In 2010, the Librarian of Congress instituted a DMCA exemption which protects circumvention of CSS protection under certain circumstances. This exemption expired in 2013. On October 4, 2005, Lightning UK! continued the development of the burning engine used by DVD Decrypter in his new tool, ImgBurn. However, for legal reasons, ImgBurn does not have the ability to circumvent copy protections of encrypted DVDs.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dvd Decrypter DVD rippers United States Internet case law Windows-only software Discontinued software