DVD Copy Software: The Rise, Fall, and Replacement of Movie Burning Software
What happened to DVDXCopy? DVD X Copy was the DVD copy software that started it all and was eventually banned for sale by Hollywood studios. This infamous line of products, created by 321 Studios, was the first mainstream movie burning software program that allowed novice computer users to copy any movie to DVD. If you do a Google search on “DVD X Copy” or “321 Studios”, you’ll find dozens of articles from USA Today, PC World, PC Magazine, Newsweek, etc. which chronicled the rise and fall of 321 Studios. Many of these articles are still posted on the DVDXCopy website. Prior to the creation of this product line, DVD copying was a relatively difficult process and out of reach for the average consumer. This difficulty was related to the fact that most commercial DVD movies include Content Scrambling System (CSS), a copy protection technology designed to prevent movies from being copied. These products included the technology required to crack the CSS copy protection mechanism on movie discs. In addition, the company was able to create a product that handled the complex processes of ripping, copying, transcoding, compressing, and burning to a blank digital video disc in a simple point-and-click program. These products were very popular and sold on all major global retail channels and online through the company’s website and to this day DVD X Copy Platinum remains one of the best selling software titles of all. the times.
The company was established in 1999 in St. Charles, Mo. and almost from its inception, the company was hampered by controversy. Although these video recording products were very popular with consumers, major Hollywood studios claimed that DVDXCopy violated copyrights. Anticipating a lawsuit from Hollywood studios, the company filed a pretrial lawsuit in April 2002 against eight Hollywood studios. 321 Studios contended that the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”, a law that prohibits circumvention of CSS copy protection technology) violates consumer fair use rights as described in the Copyright Act. author from 1976 under the “Fair Use” doctrine. Specifically, the fair use provision gives people limited rights to copy certain types of copyrighted material. The lawsuit listed MGM Studios, Tristar Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Time Warner Entertainment, Disney Enterprises, Universal City Studios, The Saul Zaentz Company, and Pixar Corporation as defendants.
In May 2003, seven of the Hollywood studios (MGM Studios, Tristar Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Time Warner Entertainment, Disney, Universal City Studios, and The Saul Zaentz Company) countersued 321 Studios, alleging that these backup products in DVDs violated the Digital Regulations. Millennium Copyright Act.
Ultimately (February 23, 2004), Judge Susan Illston of the US District Court for the Northern District of California ruled that these products violated the DMCA and ordered an injunction halting the sale of DVD X Copy products in the United States. The company proceeded to remove all products from US retail stores and from the company’s official website www.DVDXCopy.com. The ruling caused the closure of the company and it finally closed its doors in August 2004.
Similar to the way the legal “death” of the music download website Napster spawned the creation of dozens of new file-sharing sites, the death of DVD X Copy has spawned the creation of dozens of new ripping programs. and recording. There are several mainstream software products that claim to copy copy-protected movies, namely from companies like Nero, Roxio (Creator, Toast) and Corel (DVD Copy 6). However, these products are more for burning data and music to blank DVDs and CDs and are not recommended for copying commercial movies. They are not pure DVD and video burning products and do not have a built-in extractor for users to bypass or bypass CSS. In terms of pure one-click software products, literally dozens of programs have emerged as potential replacements for DVD X Copy. Some of these software programs include DVD next Copy, 1 Click DVD Copy, DVD Cloner, DVD Fab Platinum, ICopyDVDs2, CloneDVD and many more. Of these products, only two have emerged as true successors to DVDXCopy: DVD next Copy and 1Click DVD Copy.
One thing is for sure: DVD X Copy is gone forever. According to the DVDXCopy.com website, there are no authentic copies of this software product on the market. Due to their popularity and continued brand recognition (even 5 years after the company shut down), some consumers are still being tricked into buying old or cracked versions of these software products. According to 321 Studios, these programs are cracks, are not compatible, and will not work with Microsoft Vista, regardless of any claims or warranties provided by vendors. If you’re looking for an alternative to DVD X Copy Platinum, try DVD next Copy or 1 Click DVD copy, or even one of the more inferior products listed above before considering buying an older version of DVD X Copy.