Okay, I hope the feds are not gonna come after me for voicing this...
So far, I have been recording movies from virtually every single source, ie; HBO, CINEMAX, ENCORE, STARZ, etc., and I even transfered most of my commercial VHS movies into DVD without problems. My VHS cassette tapes are of various labels/distributors like Sony Pictures, Columbia, Warner Bros., 20th Century etc., you name it, I have 'em all and they are about to go into DVD format with the help of my DMR-EH55.

On very rare occasions while setting timer recordings on cable, the unit would show a little pop up screen that reads "Copy Protected Material - Recording was stopped" at the end of the recording, but the recordings did not stop and the whole movie ended up finished recording anyway, right to the end and just like how I programmed it; 2HRS or 2HR:30MIN, etc..

I know most commercial tapes are copy-protected and some movies from HBO are copy-protected also according to the pop up notice, but it keeps on recording with no problems and I know it will continue to do so. Also, I transfered the ones (cable movies) I like into DVD-R or DVD+R DL, all of which playback fine without problems on my regular JVC DVD player.

Does anyone have issues recording copy-protected materials or am I just as lucky as everyone else?

Well, I have to say that I have been tempted to copy some copyrighted instructional dvd's that I have for a class that I am taking. However, the warning about copying also mentions that the copyguard may damage your recording device? What do you think, are they blowing smoke? Hate to cause a problem with my 55h, as they are kinda hard to find now.

Does anyone have issues recording copy-protected materials or am I just as lucky as everyone else?

i used to run into copy protect issues when copying hd movies off of my twin adelphia/comcast sa8000hd dvrs hdd to my 480i toshiba or panny dvdrs. i used a sima ct2 to defeat it.
are you just copying sd movies or do you do the hd ones also. if you're just recording sd movies (even tho channels like hbo sd are considered premium channels), there probably wouldnt be copy protection. afaik.

^^Both in SD and HD, I am able to record them all with no issues. I know some of them channels (or movies) are protected because the Copy-Protection notice popped up, but it just kept on recording all the way through till the movie ends. I was going to get one of those copy-guard device for VHS archiving in case if I ran into issues, but so far I was able to record all of them to the hard disk with zero problems, I then edit them, set the chapters and then ultimately; burn them to DVDs!

Now I'm not saying that I enjoyed copying movies, I only copy them unattended (timer recording) so when I come home, I don't miss my shows - although I am paying too much for cable service anyways and I hate to lose out on certain movies. Last week, I was able to record "Blood Diamond" in HD and enjoyed the movie throughout, then of course I have the option to make a disc out of it but I'd rather reserve them for my VHS collection - so 'delete' it went.

...the warning about copying also mentions that the copyguard may damage your recording device?...I'm gonna have to give you the George W. Bush on this one: "How so? I haven't heard of that".

I have the same experience as you, although I'm using a Philips 3575. The only thing the unit will NOT copy is a commercial DVD. It seems to be a function of the cable provider, and mine (TWC) does not get involved in copy protection. I think part of the explanation is that by the time these movies reach cable most of the DVD rental/sales revenue has been scored. And don't forget, there's still no way to copy an HD movie IN HD.

I can record programs provided in HD, but they will be converted to SD. Picture quality is a tad bit better.

I agree. The final picture quality from the HD feed down converted, is noticeably superior to the SD native feed.

I have been using several different Panasonic DVD recorders, all a little old now. They all have hard drives, so the newest ones are the EH55, and the EH75. I am using DirecTV, and the DirecTV DVR, HR21-700, and so far, I don''t recall ever having a content protection issue--yet. I am fully expecting this to change eventually.

I agree....I don''t recall ever having a content protection issue--yet. I am fully expecting this to change eventually.Meaning when we shift into digital broadcast in '09?

I was able to copy a commercial DVD from my EH-55's DVD to HDD and then back to a blank DVD. The movie was NOT CP'd but it was commercial. I was not able to copy a CP'd commercial DVD in this same manner.
When I had a Philips 3575 I was not able to copy the same commercial DVD internally but was able to copy it if I used a external player feeding the 3575. I think we deduced the 3575 was restricting the copy not because of any CP but rather because it sensed the disc was commercial. The EH-55 does not have this limitation but only seems to react to valid CP schemes. I don't have pay TV to be able to test HBO etc.

HBO clearly stated on their FAQ (http://www.hbo.com/corpinfo/cgmsafaq.shtml) that you can record one on air/linear program but NOT VOD movies, well; my EH55 records VOD all the time.
I can't record some commercial DVDs into the drive because of copy-protection, the one's w/o are okay. I don't really see a benefit of transferring a disc into the drive because it loses so much feature like the start menu and so forth, not to mention - downgrade in picture quality. The movies aired in HD are better in quality though and worth the unattended recording for later enjoyment.

I don't really see a benefit of transferring a disc into the drive because it loses so much feature like the start menu and so forth, not to mention - downgrade in picture quality.

Besides, there are much cheaper ways to accomplish a bit by bit copy using a PC with a DVD burner:)

I find this spate of reports claiming the EH55 ignores 90% of copy protection interesting: I seriously doubt Panasonic *intentionally* designed the unit to ignore Macrovision on VHS tapes: it would leave them liable to too much Hollywood chatter. If it really does ignore VHS MV, that is more likely a nice design fluke than a "feature". As for the rest, cable systems vary their CP activity frequently, and often don't apply it even when they specifically say they do. In New York City, Time Warner Cable is festooned with recording advisories but in actual practice I haven't been prevented from recording anything on the system in four years using Pioneer and JVC dvd recorders.

As a general rule, Panasonic and Pioneer have always been much less reactive to real or perceived cable CP signals than other brands. Also, recorders with hard drives are often less sensitive because the hard drive has less restrictions than a blank DVD-R. I've always found this to be a weird thing, but especially nowadays when most USA recorders only burn direct to DVD we will probably see increasing reports of recording lockout. Owners of the EH55 or other HDD-equipped machines will continue to report greater success.

As for internally copying commercial discs to the hard drive, 9 out of 10 recorders just check whether a DVD is burned or pressed: burned discs are allowed to copy to the HDD, pressed discs are not. The EH55 seems to be an exception in that it specifically looks for CGMS instead of simply banning all pressed discs from being copied. This might be related to its lax enforcement of MV and other schemes: perhaps the unit is programmed to ONLY respond to CGMS?

...I don't recall ever having a content protection issue--yet. I am fully expecting this to change eventually.Meaning when we shift into digital broadcast in '09?

Not specifically, but eventually I expect most content to become copy inhibited. The content providers are becoming more and more paranoid of pirates, so they are going to crack down. On the other hand, with recorders becoming less and less common, and DVRs taking their place in the American home, maybe they won't bother. "Hmmm. Always in motion the future is..."

As a general rule, Panasonic and Pioneer have always been much less reactive to real or perceived cable CP signals than other brands. Also, recorders with hard drives are often less sensitive because the hard drive has less restrictions than a blank DVD-R. I've always found this to be a weird thing, but especially nowadays when most USA recorders only burn direct to DVD we will probably see increasing reports of recording lockout. Owners of the EH55 or other HDD-equipped machines will continue to report greater success.



Panasonic non-HDD DVD recorders will continue to be able to record "Copy once" programs to DVD-RAM, which is CGMS compliant.

I find this spate of reports claiming the EH55 ignores 90% of copy protection interesting: I seriously doubt Panasonic *intentionally* designed the unit to ignore Macrovision on VHS tapes: it would leave them liable to too much Hollywood chatter.....That's probably why they came and went so fast and disappeared from the U.S. market.
To date, and as we're speaking, I am transferring my VHS movies into the EH55's Hard Drive, then ultimately - into DVDs. So far, I have converted about 12 commercial movies into DVDs, recorded numerous premium cable channels for later viewing...and then some w/o the aid of a copy-guard device.

I've copied these commercial VHS movies to my Philips 3575 then on to DVD (for backup of course):

Forrest Gump
Moulin Rouge
The American President
Shawshank Redemption
The Green Mile
Sleepless in Seattle
Multiplicity


I was not able to copy:
ET
Pretty Woman
Jurassic Park
Ghost

I've copied these commercial movies to my Philips 3575 then on to DVD (for backup of course):

Were you able to copy them internally or did you use a external DVD player to feed the line input of your 3575? If the later, I too was able to do that to commercial NON copy protected DVDs but as noted could not internally copy commercial or "pressed" DVDs even without CP. With my EH-55 I am able to copy the same pressed DVDs just fine internally. Not a big deal the 3575 couldn't do that it was just a observation I thought might be useful in this thread dealing with EH-55s and CP.

I think CitiBear might have explained it best:
"As for internally copying commercial discs to the hard drive, 9 out of 10 recorders just check whether a DVD is burned or pressed: burned discs are allowed to copy to the HDD, pressed discs are not. The EH55 seems to be an exception in that it specifically looks for CGMS instead of simply banning all pressed discs from being copied. This might be related to its lax enforcement of MV and other schemes: perhaps the unit is programmed to ONLY respond to CGMS?"
My question on this would be, is Pioneer one of the 9 or one of the 1? Perhaps a Pio owner could confirm. Although I suppose that would be OT for 80's Guy thread.

Well I dont think there is really much problem copying them...I tried it several times. Some may work, some may not.

Were you able to copy them internally or did you use a external DVD player to feed the line input of your 3575?
OOPS! I should have said I copied movies from VHS tapes, like 80sGuy was doing in his previous post... shouldn't have assumed. I used an external Panny combo to play the tape to the 3575.

. The EH55 seems to be an exception in that it specifically looks for CGMS instead of simply banning all pressed discs from being copied. This might be related to its lax enforcement of MV and other schemes: perhaps the unit is programmed to ONLY respond to CGMS?"
My question on this would be, is Pioneer one of the 9 or one of the 1? Perhaps a Pio owner could confirm. Although I suppose that would be OT for 80's Guy thread.

My Pio 640 does look for CGMS, because there are a few burnt discs that I try to copy with "disc backup," its high speed dub to HDD, then HS burn to disc function, that it will NOT let me backup, because they are copy protected.

With a non-copy protected, pressed DVD, the Pio does not allow the HS disc backup, you will have to do a real-time copy to HDD, then a HSS copy to disc.

I have had mixed luck copying VHS tapes > HDD > disc. I have tried to copy about 30 commercially produced tapes. All but three or four of them copied!

My Pio 640 does look for CGMS, because there are a few burnt discs that I try to copy with "disc backup," its high speed dub to HDD, then HS burn to disc function, that it will NOT let me backup, because they are copy protected.

Where on earth did you come across *burnt* DVDs that have copy protection on them? :eek: I gather putting CP on DVD-R is so friggin difficult and expensive that even small-scale producers turn to small-run commercial pressing if they insist on CP. My understanding (and experience so far) is that vendors who need to economize to the extent of using DVD-R instead of commercial pressing simply don't bother with CP at all: they consider it a worthwhile risk in exchange for a "burn on demand" supply chain. I've personally never seen a burnt disc with CGMS or even MV on it: whatever ones you've found must have had major production $ behind them.

For those who asked, Pioneers look for CGMS and lock out internal copying if they sense it, also they check the disc code for DVD-ROM (pressed) vs DVD-R (burnt) and lock out all pressed discs. I've never found a burnt disc that a Pioneer won't copy, but apparently kjbawc has: I hope this doesn't indicate a new trend. (The more recent Pioneers from the 640 onward include DVD-RAM burning, which functions much like a Panasonic in terms of copy-once CP restrictions.)

I was on the screening committee of an experimental film festival for 18 years. I looked at hundreds of discs from different individuals, every year. Occasionally I would make back-up copies for myself. I would say that about 5% of what I tried to copy was copy protected. Obviously, those film makers didn't want their work copied. I would say that 4 out of 5 copy protected discs were +Rs, even though the vast majority of submissions were -Rs. These were all burnt discs, and the copy protection held up when I played them on a different DVD player, fed it to the Pio, and tried to copy.

... eventually I expect most content to become copy inhibited. The content providers are becoming more and more paranoid of pirates, so they are going to crack down. ..."

Paranoid about pirates? Or is that jusa red herring and their true concern is total control over content, including prohibiting legal fair use, so they can charge per view or in any other manner they can dream up and nickel and dime us to death and so make billions more in profits? I know what I think! ;)

Ask yourself: How often do corporations state the true reason they do anything?

No, you are correct, of course. They use the EXCUSE of pirates, but in reality, they want to maintain complete and eternal control of the content that they create. Anything to squeeze the last nickel that they can out of their material will be used.

Adding extras of limited value and nearly no cost is a typical gimmick. I have recorded all episodes of LOST this season, and I have the DVDs of what I recorded. When the season is officially realeased, there will be behind-the-scenes stuff, and interviews with the case and directors, the text of the blogs that were done during the shooting season. Like me, most people just want to see the shows. The rest of it DOES sell disks though.

Where on earth did you come across *burnt* DVDs that have copy protection on them?

I know that Logic Design makes a device he unfortunately calles The Video Filter, that can insert the content protection flags into a video stream. I *THINK* someone could use this to imbed content protection into their videos before they are recorded on a home machine. Maybe not, as the presence of these flags might just prevent the recorder from working. He would know. I think it's possible though.

Something tells me that there must be a program to add copy protection to DVDs you burn on a computer. I doubt it is that strange.

Something tells me that there must be a program to add copy protection to DVDs you burn on a computer. I doubt it is that strange.IIRC copy protection is not free. The people who make it want to be paid for it's use just like any other content provider. I've never seen a burning module that includes provision for embedding copy protection.

Come to think of it, I believe you are right. So, one would have to be licensed to do it. Or, perhaps a bootleg program? Still, I HAVE found copy-protected burnt media.

Ulead DVD Workshop 2 "includes" CSS and Macrovision (http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=navclient&ie=UTF-8&rls=GGLG,GGLG:2005-44,GGLG:en&q=ulead+dvd+workshop+macrovision), but if you read the fine print it only works if you save to DLT for later pressing and you apply to (and presumably pay) those two fine companies yourself as a separate step.