MPAA to Teachers: DVD Ripping Off-Limits; Try Video-Taping TV Instead

As you may know if you've been reading this site for a while, the U.S. Copyright Office is holding its triennial hearings on exemptions to the DMCA. One of the exemptions being sought would broaden one granted film and media professors in 2006 to rip DVDs (so they could use the clips in teaching) to other teachers as well.

Naturally, there's no way to directly record a DVD using a VCR; that particular loophole was closed when DVDs first came out. So ripping to use clips would seem the only solution, right? No, of course, not. The MPAA feels a better way to do this is to record DVD being played on a TV with a camcorder.

Of course! How simple (insert sarcasm here), and how lame. Of course, they promote this method because they don't want anyone ripping DVDs, even if exempted from the DMCA. It might (gasp!) make people think there are legitimate uses for DVD ripping.

It's a good thing I wasn't there; I might have burst out laughing. Watch the video:

MPAA shows how to videorecord a TV set from timothy vollmer on Vimeo.