DVD Library

[sazzleevans]

Hi

Just wanted to pick peoples brains. Is it worth putting a DVD library in a rental property or will people tend to remove them?

Sarah
www.islacanelaholidays.com
www.eyeonislacanela.com

[jimadept]

I am planning to do just that this summer. A small selection of budget titles, along with some novels in various languages. If any do happen to be removed you could deduct them from the breakage deposit. If you put in films you are not too bothered about seeing again, you could then replace them with films you hadn't seen yet. Let em nick em, in other words!

Browsing through the rental websites I see a lot of properties offering this, so it's definitely not a strange idea.

cheers, Jim

[sazzleevans]

Hi
Thanks for your reply.. Would you consider putting in copie DVD's or might the travel police get you?

Sarah

[Alan Knighting]

Sarah,

You might have a source of copy (pirate) DVD's but producing your own is not an obvious option as the majority of originals are copy protected. There are ways of making copies using a PC and a DVD burner but, since it is contrary to copyright law, I will not tell you how in public. PM me for information if you want to know more.

Alan

[jimadept]

Last summer when various family members were staying in the flat, I left them a selection of downloaded SVCDs to watch .... just make sure none of your guests are police officers :oP

[paolo]

Alan,

Careful - after you have told Sarah how to copy DVDs she could have you put behind bars - if I remember correctly she's an officer of the law.

[jimadept]

That would be entrapment ! She suggested it above!

[Alan Knighting]

Paolo,

I am not condoning or endorsing the piracy of movies on DVD. I would simply be providing information by way of a Website from which backup software can be obtained. The software enables people to transfer their own purchased DVDs to suitable formats for archival purposes.

There is no such thing as one single international law applying to copyright. In most countries copyright laws allow the original purchaser/owner to legally make one personal backup or copy for their own personal use.

Theoretically, I suppose Sarah could "shop" me if she felt so inclined, not as an officer of the law but as a private individual unless of course she is a member of the French police. Even then she would be extremely hard pressed to establish any offence on my part.

Alan

[sazzleevans]

Thats ok boys. I am much too busy running after very naughty people to stop and check the slip of a DVD.

Its mad really. I went to by a DVD player is ASDA today and they wanted me to complete a form for the Tv licencing people. They were a bit stumped when I put the DVD would be installed in Huelva, Spain. Whats all that about?!?! Worlds going bonkers.

SARAH

[vrooje]

Heehee, you guys are funny.

I seriously doubt most police officers would care if the DVD they were watching on vacation was duplicated or not. I mean, they'd have to be pretty uptight, and if they were visiting from another country, what could they really do about it anyway?

If you were really worried about it, you could always keep the copies for your personal collection and leave the originals at the property.

I know someone who has hundreds of DVDs (copied-- er, archived from various sources), and has taken the time to print out DVD covers for each of them and inserted them into blank DVD cases. It's really astonishing. I can't imagine how many hours she spent on that. I seriously doubt the money she saved is enough to make up for what her time is worth.

I say it's worth joining a DVD club and getting a bunch of them at half price.

[sazzleevans]

Going off the subject of rental but a funny story anyway.

A bunch of us (boys in blue) were in an Indian resturant and the owner was playing the movie Sherk 2 before it was out on DVD. One of the boys (being a bit slow) asked where he could get a copy of the movie...he didnt realise it was out on sale yet?!?!

Sarah

[Alan Knighting]

Brooke,

Each to his/her own. The cost is whatever one pays for a blank DVD-R. The human time involved is about one minute per DVD. The PC takes longer than that but would anyone really watch it while it did it's job? Does anyone watch paint dry?

Alan

[Tom's the name]

Hey Alan

I must be doing something wrong because the whole process of un-encrypting and copying a DVD takes me well over an hour. Is there something I'm missing.

I have a DVD library but would never leave originals in my apartment. It's just so hard to police if you are not there so almost impossible to detect missing DVDs and deduct from deposits. Plus I would always be worried I would offend visitors if I did fine them and it was not them.

To date I have had very little problems.

[Alan Knighting]

Tom,

I have never timed it but of course it takes time for the PC to go right through the process. When I say it takes one minute per DVD I mean my time at the PC. Assuming you have already set your defaults, the stages are:-

• 1. Run the copying software.
  2. Insert original DVD.
  3. Drag and drop Main Movie to copy pane.
  4. Press Backup button and go away.
  5. When the "rip" is complete (after half an hour?) remove original DVD and insert empty DVD-R and go away - the burning process starts automatically.
  6. When the "burn" is complete (after another quarter of an hour at x4?) remove DVD-R.
  7. The process is complete. Shut down the software

PC time = 45 minutes. Your time = 1 minute. Cost = whatever you pay for blank DVD-R's.

Alan

[Christine Kenyon]

If you're based in the UK, another souce of cheap DVDs is the weekend newspapers. So far we've got about 12 DVDs from this source, including Brassed Off, Gregory's Girl, Howard's End and Les Miserables. All for the price of a paper and no copyright worries! (And we run the local village store which sells papers so it's a win/win situation.)