Just curious, how do you all create your movie libraries? Do you take the time to rip your DVDs and Blu-Rays to your PC/NAS, or do you get files from other online sources like iTunes, Amazon, Vudu, etc.?
I will be starting my Plex Server with precisely 0 movies ripped, and I don’t have a large DVD collection (maybe 20-30 DVDs and Blu-Rays at the most), so I’m just curious how most folks get the content that they load into the Plex Media Server. Are there any limitations to using movies purchased from the online platforms on Plex (e.g., does Apple’s DRM not allow movies purchased via iTunes to work with Plex)?
Since I’m starting from zero, it’d be awesome and easier to buy my movies online and skip the ripping steps if that is possible.
Well I initially cheated a bit. I inherited a HUGE library of TV shows and movies from an uncle that shared my love of media and he had the time and money to purchase his library on VHS tapes and later DVDs and he had ripped much of his collection to hard drives, He had also recorded many TV show and movies to tape and recordable DVDs.
Before his death I already had my own library of tapes and DVDs but it was not as expansive as his.
I have since finished transcoding of both his and my libraries and purchased many more videos to add to my library. I watch the bargain bins at local stores as well as on-line sources like E-bay and Amazon for deals.
Not everything I have is at the highest quality but for old movies and TV shows that matters very little and my old eyes do not see much wrong with most of what I have.
Everything I have is backed up with the original VHS (and a few Beta-max) tapes and DVDs that I keep in storage should a disaster happen. Even the recordings have been burned to DVD or are still on tape.
I am semi-homebound and my 35000+ video library is of great comfort to me. Not to mention the large audiobook collection I have.
I do NOT pirate but there are a lot of people that download torrents from various sources. There are many people that are fine with that but I do not think it is right.
My collection is either stuff I recorded off TV via Plex DVR or DVDs and Blu-Rays I ripped myself using MakeMKV. Oh, and my music library consists solely of my family’s CD collection which I ripped to .wma (or .flac for the albums that are mine, I didn’t feel like going back and ripping every album to .flac).
Downloading and ripping are equally illegal in most countries, to get caught while downloading is just more probable compared to ripping. But I think in the same direction as @nigelpb …
Actually, according to DCMA, you are allowed to circumvent protection for educational purposes. I know this is a very gray area, but the language is in there.
And the education you get from/in a Hollywood movie is where? This is btw intended for educational institutions like schools, universities, libraries etc. and not your private use. And that still does not cover breaking of the encryption of the copy protection. Just saying, I am not a prosecutor and you can do what ever you wish. It is still, mostly, illegal.
To topic: Nowadays I mostly record stuff from TV and rarely rip DVDs.
True, of course. I hope for the day when they will embrace cusumer demand and modern technology to create a protection system that works for consumers who want to maintain their own private libraries. Putting a disc in a player is sooo 2000’s.
In video game emulation, if you own a physical copy (or paid game download in some cases) of a game and you made the ROM of it yourself, that’s totally legal. In my book, same goes with movies. I don’t share my collection with anyone outside of my immediate family, I don’t profit in any way from owning the digital copies (although you could say I’ve “profited” from having the convenience of a Plex server, even though that Plex server cost me somewhere around $5-600), and every single DVD/Blu-Ray rip I have in my server is one I made myself. On top of that, it’s not like the movie companies are losing money due to my server, since all my DVDs and Blu-Rays are legal copies that I paid for. (Technically, most of my collection I bought from used video stores, but still.)
As for encryption, I refer again to the video game ROMs law. Most if not all new games are encrypted in some way, and although most early disc-based games (such as PlayStation 2 or original Xbox) are as easy to rip as putting them into your nearest generic ISO maker, all cartridge-based games are also “encrypted” in a sense that they use proprietary hardware that would be impossible to make a ROM of without the use of special tools such as cartridge adapters for computers or, in the case of newer cartridge-based systems such as the Nintendo Switch and 3DS, special home-brew software that runs on the system itself.
The way I see it, me owning a server like this is totally legal.
I pretty much agree but that is not the way the law is written in the US. In the US it is illegal to defeat DRM for any reason or to make copies of movies for any reason other than to watch them later as in recording via a DVR. A strict reading of the (stupid and unreasonable) law even makes it a violation to copy a DVR recording a second time.
However there has never been, to my knowledge, a single prosecution or even a charge made where the person being charged made copies of their own media unless they shared it in some way.
The law seems to be only enforced on those that make copies and share or sell the copies. Also there is a principal in law of “Reasonable and proper” that would make prosecution of someone making copies of owned media very hard to win and hold that win on appeal.
But in the end the law is what the judges and lawyers say it is and it really has little connection with what is written in the law.
Right now everyone that does not share is, most probably, safe from any prosecution but those that do share are at some risk if the lawyers can prove what is shared and who is sharing but Plex’s encryption makes that nearly impossible.
I own everything I stream but I would be pressed quite hard to “prove” that ownership for some of my older content and I have a good smattering of recorded material that is probably outside the technical reading of the law. But I am not worried at all because I do not share at all. There is no one I like well enough to take the small risk that sharing would entail.
I believe that I have read that most people who pirate content are also more inclined to subscribe to online services than average. It seems we like what this technology can do. I have several, including Netflix, Amazon, premium cable channels, etc. I also have multiple music streaming services. In spite of all of my subscriptions, I still use Plex the most. I think that’s because it is most customized to my taste and is private–in that what I watch or listen to is my business and only my business. Of course, it’s also hard to make a playlist from disks that are stored in a closet somewhere.
Anyway, regarding the topic: My collection is from mixed sources. In other words, it’s totally eclectic in source. I possess hard copies of much of it, but not all of it. Many of the original copies have been lost or are no longer playable.
I might add that I probably use Plex more for music than movies. I have both stored, but in day-to-day use, the music is what I like most. I love being able to access my music collection from my phone.
I generally try to mirror my MoviesAnywhere library on my PLEX server. I buy movies, download my iTunes copy (the only service compatible with MoviesAnywhere that provides actual file downloads) and then… Then I plop that into my PLEX server.
I also have a couple of fan-edits/recuts that I’ve gotten from various sites over the years. Generally speaking though, I don’t bother with movie piracy anymore.
DarkeSword, a follow-up question on your post … do iTunes movie files work on Plex? I thought that they did not, but I may be misinformed. Or, is there a difference in the iTunes movie format when you download via MoviesAnywhere that allows them to somehow work with Plex?
They don’t work “out of the box,” so-to-speak. iTunes allows you to download files to your computer. Those files are locked with DRM; PLEX cannot play those files.
[Moderator edit: discussion about ways to circumvent DRM are not allowed in these forums. Please stop doing that!]
