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emtshea emtshea
 
M$2 March 22, 2009 02:09 PM

I'm moving away from iTunes, but have a bunch of TV shows and movies I bought through the iTunes store. Is there a way to export those?

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winmaster winmaster
 
 March 22, 2009 10:26 PM
In short, the answer is no. DRM has plagued iTunes for a long time, until recently when they remove DRM from their music. (All music on iTunes will be DRM free as of sometime in April and most of it is already.) Before that, someone could legally remove the DRM by burning the music to an audio CD then ripping it into a separate music file on the computer. However, you can't burn videos purchased in iTunes to a DVD in MPEG-2 (DVD player format). Because of this, there is no legal way to remove DRM from your iTunes videos, but you could probably find an illegal program to do it. However, even with the DRM removed, .m4v videos only work in a few video applications, and converting them to a more universal format is difficult. So, your best bet is probably to just watch your videos in iTunes and on an iPod if you have one, since those are the only devices that are natively supported.
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winmaster winmaster
 
March 29, 2009 11:49 PM
Thanks for the tip emtshea. Its greatly appreciated.

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biggsjm biggsjm
 
March 22, 2009 02:42 PM
The iTunes Video DRM is much harder to "free" than the DRM on the Music. Please note, that while there are ways to do this, everyone of them is both illegal and will degrade the quality of the video.

I will not provide such methods here as that was not the original ask of the question (you simply asked if there existed a method, not how), but a simple google search can provide the answer you seek.

I will suggest that you start digitally purchasing content like Video and Movies from Amazon. They still have DRM, but work with many more services and they retain a digital copy online that can play in any browser window. That and Netflix seem to work well.

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ryan loran ryan loran
 
March 22, 2009 03:36 PM
I'm still looking for good sources on this, but removing the DRM may not be illegal. This will certainly depend on the country you live in, but in many cases you may do whatever you want to the music as long as you don't share it. In other cases, the software you need may be illegal.

I'd spend some time checking your local laws.

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adamcherno... adamcherno...
 
March 22, 2009 04:25 PM
@darcy logan: In the US, the act of removing the DRM is illegal under the DMCA. Can't speak for the rest of the world, but if you're in a country that's signed with WIPO, then it most likely is.

Edit:
US Code: Title 17,1201:

"A) No person shall circumvent a technological measure that effectively controls access to a work protected under this title. The prohibition contained in the preceding sentence shall take effect at the end of the 2-year period beginning on the date of the enactment of this chapter."

Full-text here: http://tinyurl.com/dmcaAntiCircumvention

So while it's possible to strip off the DRM, if @biggsjm is in the US, it's illegal to do so.

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biggsjm biggsjm
 
March 22, 2009 04:37 PM
@adamchernow yes, I am in the US, and that's how I responded. Thanks for reminding me that not everyone is. The DMCA is quite clear about removing DRM from any file.

The point is, the question asked if there existed a way. Answer = Yes there is.

Caveat: Check your local laws to determine if you can legally do this. Caveat 2: Check your agreement details to know if you can be sued for doing so.

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oboewan oboewan
 
March 22, 2009 04:40 PM
Just looked at emtshea's profile. He lives just outside DC, meaning that removing DRM is illegal under the DMCA.
Just FYI...

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dumblonde dumblonde
 
March 22, 2009 11:49 PM
While removing DRM is illegal under federal law, like darcy said there is an exception which can very much be construed as a fair use exception. But we don't really know which way the courts will swing this.

Update: After running a search on Lexisnexis, it seems there is case law regarding the CSS in DVDs. "Individual who buys DVD is not exempted from Digital Millennium Copyright Act pursuant to 17 USCS 1201(a)(3)(A) when buyer circumvents encryption technology in order to view DVD on competing platform. Universal City Studios, Inc. v Corley (2001, CA2 NY) 273 F3d 429, 60 USPQ2d 1953." - 17 USCS 1201 annotations
This can easily be extrapolated to itunes and DRM. But because none of this has reached the Supreme Court, it's still unclear.

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johnsonaar... johnsonaar...
 
March 22, 2009 05:06 PM
I'll just go ahead and throw it out there, but agree with everyone that yes, in the US under the DMCA even the act of removing DRM is illegal.

I would gladly undergo a legal battle if it would help the cause as I have personally removed DRM from my entire music video collection for my PERSONAL use for which there should be law against.

I've used TuneBite and it works great.
http://tunebite.com/en/audio_video_drm_copy_protection/index.html

http://tunebite.com/media/awards/Netzwelt%20Tunebite%20EN.gif

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dumblonde dumblonde
 
March 22, 2009 11:47 PM
Is there a similar program to Tunebite for the Mac?

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johnsonaar... johnsonaar...
 
March 23, 2009 07:13 PM
@dumblonde I'm sorry I don't know of any TuneBite type program for the Mac

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