I have a demonstration DVD which I need to play in two rooms at different times during the day. Is it legal for me to make a copy of the DVD or put the video on my hard drive.

These DVDs are quite expensive and the I don't want to be accused of pirating anything. I know this is probably a common question, but I can't find a clear answer.

Thanks for the help,

Dan Irwin

How far apart are the rooms? You might want to consider some sort of video splitter. Alternatively since they are in different rooms at different times, just walk it over to the room where it is needed.

I'm playing them using a computer, not a regular DVD player. When I'm not playing the DVD I'm doing other things on the computer.

Depends of what type of DVd you want to play. If it is a copyrighted DVD, then making a copy would be considered piracy. There is also a escape clause in this situation: If the presentation is for educational purpose, then you can copy a DVD.

If it's CSS encrypted, making a copy would not be allowed due to violation of the DMCA. As dx23 mentioned, there may be an educational purpose escape clause but I believe that's just for clips taken from the DVD used to teach about the artistic/technical creation of the DVD itself, not the entire content.

If it's copyrighted (which almost certainly is the case) but not encrypted, whether you can legally make a copy would be up to the terms of the copyright and the copyright owner.

Would a Slingbox solve this problem for you?
http://www.slingmedia.com/indexa.php

Would it be wrong to copy to a networked drive and then only play it one at a time (if he was using two computers which I believe I picked up on)? He would still have one copy of the physical media and only using the copy for one display at a time.

Just a thought.

who the hell is going to know you did it? go for it.

Thats what I'm thinking of doing, and thats my question.

The DVDs are for a dental office to educate people about the treatments they are getting... I think the DVDs cost over $2,000. If it was just a copy of MI3 I wouldn't think twice about copying it.

Although the DVDs "educate" people they aren't doing it in the sense you are watching a PBS video, so I am kinda wondering.

Contact the manufacturer and ask about the license to show it in your office. What could it hurt to ask?