when you rent dvd movies and rip them into your HD?

One source says... From: http://www.afterdawn.com/guides/arc... Quote About Copy Protection and Copyright Law It is generally accepted in most countries that making backup copies of your personally owned DVDs is acceptable and a wise practise. However, this can sometimes not be the case and making backup copies can be illegal in certain territories. In almost all countries it is illegal for you to copy DVDs that you don't own (like rental DVDs). This guide, as mentioned earlier, is for "backups of your own DVDs for personal use", it is NOT intended to teach people to make pirate copies and neither I, nor AfterDawn Oy can be held responsible if you misuse this information to break local law. End of quote HTH Bryan

Well that's depends on, and Bryco's answer is quite complete.

Bryan is right. It is still legal to backup owned movies if you bought legal software. I own DVD X copy Platinum. It allows you to make copies of movies. Before you start the copy it asks you, "Is this a rented or borrowed video." If you click "no," the process continues. It you click "yes" it shuts down. DVD X copy is no longer sold with a ripper. The courts took the side of the movie industry on this one. Jimi.

All of the answers to this question will vary greatly based upon which country you live in. For example: "It is still legal to backup owned movies if you bought legal software." Actually, in the USA, that is not true. The DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act) "...criminalizes the act of circumventing an access control, even when there is no infringement of copyright itself." In other words, even if you legally bought a DVD it would be illegal to use any type of ripping software that circumvents the copy protection - even if you were only trying to make a backup. Of course, this is directly counter to "fair use" rights which explicitly state that you may make a backup copy of copyrighted material you have purchased. This issue has never been resolved - probably because the studios and law enforcement have enough to do with going after those that are copying protected works for personal gain. For the DMCA to be legally challenged for infringing upon fair use, there has to be someone who is "wrongefully" prosecuted with the DMCA who did have a fair use right. I don't think that is likely to happen any time soon. So, even backing up movies you have purchased will be a crime. However, backing up moveis you rent is definitely illegal - except in perhaps a small handful of countries that don't adhere to copyright protection. Michael J