Legal DVD copying is a highly controversial subject and is often the topic of heated debates, especially since nobody can agree on what the laws actually mean. Is it illegal to copy dvd's? Even as backup copies for personal use? If a consumer goes to the store and buys a DVD the legal way, brings it home only to find out that it skips in some places, is it still illegal for the consumer to burn a working copy of it for personal use?

The answer, in short, is both "yes" and "no".

For the most part, there isn't such thing as LEGAL DVD copying. However, some aspects of the law aren't specifically clear, and are open for interpretation. When it comes down to it, copying a DVD is illegal whenever the CSS (content scrambling system), which is an encryption code used to protect DVD's from being copied, is unscrambled.

The CSS encryption code, unfortunately for Hollywood, is incompetent. The code has been cracked, and there are now countless DVD copy programs that will burn exact copies anyway, despite the entertainment industry's best efforts. Although technically, legal DVD copying is nonexistent, according to Hollywood, anyway, their security measures failed and many people are copying DVD's anyway.

When it comes down to it, there *IS* such thing as legal DVD copying. What is ILLEGAL, however, is unscrambling the CSS encryption code. So unless one has access to old copies of DVD's, DVD burning software, and an old DVD burning drive, it's hard to copy a DVD in a legal manner. This doesn't stop the fact that there are countless software programs out there being made and upgraded every single day in order to burn successful copies, even it means to unscramble the scrambled code.

Some of these software programs are for advanced users. Technological savvy individuals can manually go straight through the encrypted protection themselves. Illegal or legal DVD copying---none of it matters to some people, just as long as they can make nice, quality copies successfully. Even those who don't have a lot of knowledge about how DVD copying software works can find the automatic process easy. None of it's really hard to catch on to.

What about making backup copies of software and/or games rather than movies? There are a lot of legal DVD copying purposes out there. After all, if copying EVERYTHING is 100% illegal, then why are DVD and CD burners even made in the first place? Why are DVD-R's sold on the market? Obviously, there are a lot of legal uses. Many people do backup important software and files on DVD's.

In order to find out more about legal DVD copying, it's best to read reviews on all the different software programs out there to find out how they all work. For some, none of it's a big deal and they could care less whether or not it is illegal or legal. For others, though, all of it *IS* a big deal, and they don't want to take any risks. Until Hollywood catches up with advanced technology and finds a way to change the laws so that everybody can be happy, we'll all only continue to debate about illegal and legal DVD copying.