Backing Up Your Favorite DVD
Words to make a grown man cry: "Daddy, I scratched your special Star Wars DVD." But if you had a backup, you'd never fear dents and the like. Folks have the right to dupe DVDs they own, says the software firm 321 Studios. The company's DVD X Copy ($100) lets PC users copy a commercial disk to two DVDs. DVD X Copy Xpress ($70) is simpler to use and typically copies only the movie, not extras, to one DVD (321Studios.com has retail info). The programs can copy most DVDs, but there are reports of trouble, especially on "episodic" DVDs like a season of The Sopranos. Though 321 Studios says copies you make are coded to discourage piracy, Hollywood has gone to federal court to squelch the software. A ruling is expected any day. -David LaGesse
This story appears in the July 21, 2003 print edition of U.S. News & World Report.
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