[Douglas Spotted eagle]

Then I am not sure what it is about. Every creative artist in this world have to accept the fact that I as a private citizen am allowed to duplicate his work for my own private use. If I purchase a painting I am allowed to make a duplicate of that and hang it in my house rather than the original, which I prefer to keep in my vault. Fair use. If I purchase a book recording on CD, I can duplicate this and put it on my iPod. Fair use. If I purchase music on a CD, I can duplicate this onto my iPod or even cassette, with dramatic reduction in quality, and do so legally. Fair use.

You clearly don’t understand “Fair Use.” It is a very specific and very legally defined use of copyrighted works, and those rights in the most broad sense do not extend to an individual for the benefit of the individual.
Read up on Fair Use at the LOC.gov site, or simply have a first-year IP attorney explain it.

As to the rest of it…I’m honestly too busy creating copyrighted content to continue a debate of semantics. The copyright laws in Singapore are the same as they are in Israel are the same as they are in Malaysia and Thailand, all places I’m currently visiting for the purposes of production. I’m pretty careful with my masters so that they don’t disappear and then re-appear under the guise of “fair use.” “I found it, therefore it’s fair that I use it….” 😉

Douglas Spotted Eagle
VASST

Certified Sony Vegas Trainer
Aerial Camera/Instructor

[Douglas Spotted eagle]

A-yes, I believe watching a video ripped from a copyprotected DVD should be illegal, because as a director,producer, content creator; I reserve the right to a very narrow extent, to decide on what devices my work is shown upon, and by ripping it, you’re not only violating the DMCA, you’re also altering the quality of my film. Plus, I might want to create a specific version of the film that may or may not include sponsor $$ (read “advertising”) on the iPod or PSP version.

B-The rest of it is merely semantics. You’re looking for ways to circumvent a system that you’ll have a helluva time circumventing, and IMO, it’s not just about the letter of the law (which you are arguing) and the moral implications of same. In some states a 40 year old man may marry a 16 year old girl, while most states understand the moral implications of same. I see this as much the same kind of thing, and I for one, can’t go along with spending a lot of time seeking a 16 year old girl.

Douglas Spotted Eagle
VASST

Certified Sony Vegas Trainer
Aerial Camera/Instructor

[Douglas Spotted eagle]

Actually, no law permits the copying/archiving of protected content. You’re confused. You may not archive protected works.
Time-shifting is copying broadcasts, which is perfectly legal. Still.
What you may not do, is rip a DVD, bypassing copy protection. It was illegal to bypass Macrovision on VHS, and still is illegal to bypass Macrovision, CSS, or any other copy protection scheme, and the laws preventing same were merely re-fortified by DMCA.
Technically, it is not illegal to rip a CD and put it on your iPod or similar device, because the concept of those devices is that they may be enjoyed by one person at one time, rather than multiple persons at one time, or one person in multiple occurrences. Too late to put that genie back in the bottle, and frankly, I don’t think anyone cares anyway, not at this point. The bigger problem is people ripping the songs and putting them on file-sharing sites.
Either way, back to point…Ron is right, and myself right along with him. You may *not* archive DVD content to another disc, period. The new amendments to the Copyright laws last fall serve to not only fortify the DMCA, but to also reiterate that copying for personal use, when it involves bypassing any copy protection scheme, is illegal for anyone, excepting very specific purposes, none of which are related to the rights of individuals. Only specific organizations.
While some are apparently confused about the legal aspects of this, I don’t understand why. It’s clear, specific, and very easy for the layperson to understand, IMO. It’s not that folks don’t understand it, it’s that they tend to try to interpret current law vs past law, or interpret loopholes in the laws.
To clarify;
You may *not* bypass copy protection, period. On any format of media. For personal use or otherwise, excepting extremely specific organizations. Religion is not one of them.
You may *not* back up media in any fashion that disables copy protection or alters its specific protection scheme.

I’d like to invite you to attend one of the Copyright conventions for musicians and attorneys, they take place 4 times per year in various locations around the country. Not terribly expensive, usually 149.00 for a full day with an IP attorney like Paul Tauger, Bill Evans, or similar. WELL worth the cost, IMO.

Douglas Spotted Eagle
VASST

Certified Sony Vegas Trainer
Aerial Camera/Instructor

[Douglas Spotted eagle]

-The A1 can’t be considered “good” in any low-light situation. it’s a great camera (we have 4) and use them in skydiving and other aerial sports with regularity. One of my A1’s easily has 2000 hours on it. They’re terrific, when you have good light. Absent good lighting, it’s a weak camera, and the noise of CMOS will bite you, guaranteed.
This was shot (aerial) with the A1U (7 of them on helmets).

Douglas Spotted Eagle
VASST

Certified Sony Vegas Trainer
Aerial Camera/Instructor

[Douglas Spotted eagle]

Given that there is no “Capture” of XDCAM, XDCAM hands-down.
Vegas is optimized for XDCAM, and the most complete app there is for XDCAM media. Edit straight from the disc, conforming only what you need to conform (if you ever need to conform).
XDCAM is larger frame format than Varicam, and depending on the XDCAM you choose, it’s 4:2:0 in a larger frame, or 4:2:2 in a larger frame than Varicam.
Not at all to dis Varicam either, just that as relates to Vegas, there is no comparison.
We shoot F350, and plan on renting an F355 as a primary to go with a project we’re just beginning.

Douglas Spotted Eagle
VASST

Certified Sony Vegas Trainer
Aerial Camera/Instructor

[Douglas Spotted eagle]

I’m not a lawyer either, I just play one on the internet.
)as a musician, copyright law is very important to me. I attend and sit on panels fairly frequently, that are related to this subject.

)My company hired a IP attorneys and paid the $$ to learn their opinions on this very subject. Additionally, we produced a DVD on the subject of copyright. It specifically addresses a couple of your comments.

)The film industry doesn’t need to go after the DVD ripping companies, they’re effectively shut down by the government when they released products.

While what you say is seemingly logical, you’re missing several pieces to the puzzle.
What is even more puzzling to me is when I find *anyone* in our industry supporting the right to rip content for the purpose of sharing it with others. DCMA or not.
I make my living creating content. It truly inspires fury when I find my content on a website without my permission. I don’t see it as flattery. I’ve created content that people are allowed/encouraged to use at no cost, but that’s apparently not enough. They have to rip it and upload it to other sites, use it in their YouTube vids, MySpace pages, etc. If it continues at the pace it’s been going for the past few years, there is little to no incentive for musicians to keep making great music and for independent producers to make great films.

Douglas Spotted Eagle
VASST

Certified Sony Vegas Trainer
Aerial Camera/Instructor

[Douglas Spotted eagle]

there are other laws that would allow it as Fair Use

Incorrect. There is no law, anywhere, of any kind related to Berne or DCMA that allows ripping of DVDs to be authorized under any term of Fair Use. Period.

The *only* avenue where this *may* arguably fall (and doesn’t related one whit to this course of discussion) is the less-than-a-year-old change in the Copyright Act that allows media instructors to make copies for purposes of educational commentary on the media itself, and that particular part of the amendments by the Library of Congress have not been tried out yet.

Douglas Spotted Eagle
VASST

Certified Sony Vegas Trainer
Aerial Camera/Instructor

[Douglas Spotted eagle]

Select em’ all.
Hit “G” for Group
Hold CTRL and slide the right-most title to the left until you hit your 30 second mark.

Douglas Spotted Eagle
VASST

Certified Sony Vegas Trainer
Aerial Camera/Instructor

[Douglas Spotted eagle]

The VASST tools merely call out aspects of what is already in Vegas. Can you be specific as to which preset/tool you used? For example, if you used one of the echo-reducing tools, it would likely make your audio sound pretty hollow. It’s typically a good idea to listen through various passages after applying any plugin, audio or video, to find any anomolies caused by using the plugin.

Douglas Spotted Eagle
VASST

Certified Sony Vegas Trainer
Aerial Camera/Instructor

[Douglas Spotted eagle]

I know folks who have produced commercial CDs using only Vegas so it can’t be blamed for poor audio.

I know folks who have received Grammy and Emmy awards using Vegas for audio….:-)
Vegas relies on the audio card in the system, and ability of the operator, if either is weak…so shall be the final outcome.

Can you specifically describe what it is that you’re dissatisfied with?

Douglas Spotted Eagle
VASST

Certified Sony Vegas Trainer
Aerial Camera/Instructor