All files (c) Roger Pack 2010 All files are released under the GPLv3 license [1] unless otherwise specified. Ping me if you want/need this changed. The edit lists are CC license, like wikipedia. May contain some 3rd party libraries/executables under their own (separate, open source) licenses. So...is this legal? Unclear. In general ripping personal DVD's is legal. And making "backup copies" of commercial DVD's (I think--I'm no laywer) may fall under fair use. It is controversial to use open source software to play/rip commercial DVD's. There are a few conflicting views. Sensible-cinema doesn't actually do any decryption or decoding, nor has any knowledge of it. It doesn't even have knowledge as to whether the DVD being ripped is encrypted or not. We don't distribute sensible-cinema with the ripping program, either (the user must install it later). You can ask the authors of that program if it is legal. Apparently libdvdcss (which the other programs that it calls out to use) has never been legally challenged in court (or so they say), and uses a slightly different algorithm than those that have, so the jury's out. Using sensible-cinema is probably not any more unethical than ripping your DVD collection to your hard drive so you can ""keep your DVD's all in one place" or what not. It's about the same as using VLC media player to watch a DVD, which also uses libdvdcss. Also note that if you watch an edited DVD in a commercial DVD player, your are using a DVD player that conforms with encryption specifications, so that might have some sway. Note also that fair use at times does allow one to "record" things for personal use/backup (for example off the TV). Note that sensible cinema does require the original DVD to be present when using it, also. If general, if it's not legal in your country, then don't use it! You are responsible for your actions and use of this program. It is possible that the authors of sensible-cinema are not cupable of anything regarding its use themselves, since they re-distribute no edited media, nor distribute cracking codes. Check your country's rules first. If it's illegal, don't use it! Note: do not redistribute/re-sell edited DVD's. We have learned the hard way from clean flicks that redistributing edited commercial DVD's is against copyright in the US. We hope that sensible-cinema is more legal, since you can get the DVD's from wherever you want, and keep the original. Please don't redistribute. If creating copies of commercial DVD's is illegal in your country, then don't do it! Use the "watch in realtime" option. DO NOT MAKE ILLEGAL COPIES. In terms of copyright, it could be legal under the The Family Home Movie Act of 2005, at least in the United States, when viewed using the "playlist" option (v 0.10'ish, then later removed), or the "realtime" option (0.18.0'ish +). In general, if I have the original DVD sitting next to my TV, I don't feel bad about watching its edited copy, but please consult a laywer first if you have any concerns. This program can also be used for editing home movies, etc (example, the "pack wedding" file herein included). Note that this software might well be legal in the EU, as it is only software (if you watch it on your computer), and therefore possibly not subject to patents in certain countries (see "What about patent licenses?" in [2]). Also note that several ideas have been released in the code that are disabled in the final release. Please see the blog for release notes http://betterlogic.com/roger, as well as http://ruby-forum.com (ruby talk ML there), and rubygems.org which lists the various releases, including release notes, when installed, and also github.com/rdp/sensible-cinema which, lists commits and changes and release notes, and is publicly available. A more ancient history of various brainstorming thoughts was described here: http://betterlogic.com/roger/?p=2618 Note also that the authors of sensible cinema make no money on the project, nor sell the product. It's distributed free for use for any end users, source code is available (see license section). YOU MUST AGREE TO THE gplv3 in order to use this software. USING THIS SOFTWARE MIGHT BE ILLEGAL IN SOME COUNTRIES Please check with your legal advisor, and if this is the case in your country, you are NOT licensed to use this freeware. [1] http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html, also gplv3 file. [2] http://www.videolan.org/support/faq.html