The free version only allows you to copy one DVD for free, so that you can check how the software performs before upgrading to the premium version. Pros: It is pricy for occasional users.
Almost all commercial DVD movies and TV shows are armed with one or more copy protection schemes to prevent users from making backup copies of the DVDs. And that's where DVD ripping software tools come in. These tools can not only help you remove copy protection from DVDs but also help you digitize them to save your movies to computer, cloud or mobiles. However, it's never an easy job to rip and copy protected DVDs, especially the Disney movie DVDs. Often you would get an unplayable outcome or an error notice, such as 'read error' and 'copy protection 0x8003030 error'.
- Although there are not many Mac DVD rippers in the market, you can choose to use the free ripper or paid option. The free dvd ripper usually lacks or limited on the features compare to the paid dvd ripping software. You can start with the free handbrake to rip the DVDs.
- Recommended Free DVD Copy Software. A good free DVD copy software should be totally free without any extra charge. Quality output video effect. It can copy original DVD video without any quality loss. This is the basic beneficial point to define the quality of the DVD ripper. Easy-to-use handling process.
Actually, there are many programs on the market that claim to remove copy protection from DVDs. However, some DVD rippers can strip several copy protection schemes while some can only handle one or two schemes. If you're confused about choosing a suitable tool to rip and decrypt copy-protected DVDs, you've come to the right place. In this article, we'll share you with 4 easy and proven ways to remove copyright protection from DVDs. The frequently asked Handbrake and VLC are also introduced here.
Table of Content:
How to Tell If a DVD is Copy Protected?
You can check your DVD box or the disc, and see if there's a copy protected icon on it. Another way to tell whether a DVD is encrypted is to make use of a third-party tool. Some DVD ripping programs will show whether the disc has encryption or not and which copy protection it has. For example, DumobFab DVD Ripper will pop up a prompt when a disney encrypted DVD is imported. Actually, nearly all commercial DVDs are copy protected.
Method 1. Remove DVD Copy Protection with DumboFab DVD Ripper
DumboFab DVD Ripper is a powerful yet easy-to-use DVD copy protection removal software that can cope with both homemade and store-bought DVDs. With it, you can easily remove a variety of copy protections from DVDs without additional software. No matter the source DVD is an old old morning show DVD, or the latest Disney-99 title movie DVD, or the 21st Century Fox movie DVD, just throw it up to DumboFab DVD Ripper.
Furthermore, the top DVD copy protection removal tool can easily rip protected DVDs to MP4, MKV, AVI, WMV, MOV, FLV, HEVC, H.264 and other mainstream video and audio formats. And more than 150 device profiles are pre-configured, which is great if you're unsure of what format you need. And therefore you can convert any DVD to fit Windows, Apple devices, Android devices, VR devices, game consoles, TV, USB, media server, etc. with best quality-size balance. What's more, you can select the desired subtitle/audio tracks, add subtitles, crop, trim, and edit the ripped DVD videos.
To begin with, you need to donwload and install DumboFab DVD Ripper on your PC or Mac. Next, you can follow the tutorial below to remove copy protection from DVD in just 3 simple steps. Here we take the Windows version for example to show you the process.
※ For macOS 10.14 or lower, you're recommended to download 32-bit installer here.
Step 1. Load the copy-protected DVD
Insert DVD disc into optical drive of your computer or a USB DVD drive, launch DumboFab DVD Ripper and then click 'Load DVD' button to import the source DVD. Then it will fast scan your DVD, bypass DVD copy protection, and detect the correct main movie title for you.
You can also load ISO image files or DVD Folder into the program for conversion.
Step 2. Select an output format
In the pop-up output profile window, you can see all popular formats and devices divided into various categories. Here you can pick up MP4, MKV, AVI, MOV or any other digital formats or select the device profile based on the device you're using as the wanted output format. You can also hit the 'Disc Backup' button on the navigation bar to copy DVD as Video_TS folder with full title or go to 'Copy' > 'Directly Copy' to copy DVD as a single MPEG2 file with main title.
Step 3. Rip DVD with Removal of Copy Protection
Hit 'Browse' button to set destination folder (hard drive or device) and click 'Convert' button to rip DVD with removal of copy protection.
Disclaimer: DumboFab DVD Ripper does not advocate ripping copy-protected DVDs for any commercial purpose and suggests referring to the DVD copyright laws in your countries before doing so.
Method 2. Remove DVD Copy Protection for free with Handbrake
HandBrake is free to download and use on Windows, Mac, and Linux. It can rip DVDs to MP4 and MKV within a few steps. However, this free DVD copy protection removal software can't handle copy-protected DVDs on its own. You need to install libdvdcss to help HandBrake remove copy protection from commercial DVDs.
For the details of how to install libdvdcss on Windows and Mac, you can check this guide on how to use Handbrake to rip copy-protected DVDs >>
After you finish the installation of HandBrake and libdvdcss, you can follow the steps to remove DVD copy protection with HandBrake.
Step 1. Put target copy-protected DVD to your optical drive. Open HandBrake and the tool will display all the files and discs it detected. Choose the DVD you want to remove the copy protection from, and this will lead you to a new panel.
Step 2. Beginners can choose the wanted output format from the giving options of Preset. Advanced user? Just navigate down to find the Video and Audio tabs. Here, you have dozens of options used for customizing the video bitrate, resolutions, frame rate, and sample rate, etc.
Step 3. Once you're satisfied with all the adjustments, choose Browse to set up an output file folder. Press Start Encode on the top menu bar. HandBrake will then start to rip the DVD and remove the applied copy protection.
Method 3. Free remove DVD Copy Protection with VLC
VLC Media Player is among the popularly used players as it is portable and works on all types of platforms. This open-source player supports an array of video and audio formats and compression methods. The player also works as a decent disc ripper and allows you to remove CSS copy protection mechanism from DVD. Now, let me show you how to rip copy protected DVD with VLC.
Step 1. Insert DVD into disc drive. Next, open VLC, click Media and then click Convert / Save...
Step 2. On Open Media window, click Disc tab, and make sure the DVD you want to rip is selected in Disc device. Then, select title, audio track, subtitle track, and click Convert / Save.
Step 3. On Convert window, choose output profile and destination folder, and then hit Start to begin ripping DVD.
Method 4. Remove Copy Protection from DVD with IMGBURN
DVD Decrypter users might have heard about IMGBURN since both two are developed by Lightning UK!. From the information provided by Wiki, IMGBURN cannot remove the CSS or any other sort of copy protection from a DVD, however, from my test, it sometimes could work for removing CSS encryption from a few old movie DVDs.
Step 1. Install IMGBURN.
Come over to the IMGBURN homepage to find a list of mirror sites. You can visit one of those mirror sites to download IMGBURN install pack. After that, install and launch up the freeware.
Step 2. Choose the Conversion Mode.
Choose Create image file from disc on the start interface of this CSS protection remover to enter the conversion panel.
Step 3. Select the DVD.
Hit the down-triangle button to find the DVD that you want to remove copy protection from, and click it.
Step 4. Remove Copy Protection from DVD with IMGBURN.
Hit the yellow explore button to choose an output file folder for holding the output ISO file. Press the blue arrow to start to remove copy protection from DVD.
Option Reading: List of Most Common DVD Copy Protection Form
CSS, short for Content Scramble System, utilizes a proprietary 40-bit stream cipher algorithm to restrict DVD-Video access. This digital rights management (DRM) and encryption system is employed on many commercially produced DVD-Video discs.
Region Code, is for preventing the playback of a commercial disc in a region other than the one it is released. Suppose you have a DVD that is released in Canada (region 1), then you could not play it on a region 2 DVD player. With region codec protection, movie studios can effectively control the release date and price of new movies according to region.
RCE, the abbreviation for Region Codec Enhanced, is for preventing the playback of a movie DVD in a region other than the one it is released, even if the DVD is played in a region free player.
UOP is short for User operation prohibition. Just as its name implies, UOP is for preventing people from performing any actions during the playback of a UOP protected section. It is initially come out to stop viewers from skipping the copyright notice, but now UOP is more widely running for stopping views skipping the ads of a DVD.
Sony ARccOS Protection, a copy protection system created by Sony, is designed as an additional layer used with the CSS scheme. When people are trying to copy the DVD by using a DVD copy tool, ARccOS will deliberately generate corrupted sectors on the DVD.
APS is the abbreviation of Analog Protection System. It is a VHS and DVD copy protection system developed by TiVo Corporation (formerly the Macrivsion). It works by adding pulses to apply negatively impact on the AGC circuit of the recording device. By doing so, it can damage the digital copies of APS encrypted DVDs.
HDCP refers to High-Bandwidth Digital Content Protection. It's a digital copy protection scheme proposed and carried out by Intel. When users copy a DVD without permission, the HDCP technique will interrupt the process and downgrade the result picture quality to achieve the purpose of protecting the DVD content.
Disney X Project (99-title) is a new copy protection scheme developed by Disney. The features of this sort of encrypted movie DVDs are 99 titles and over 40GB of file size. Currently, no freeware can remove a Disney 99 title copy protection scheme.
With the rapid rise of streaming services, it’s time to digitalize your DVD collections. By doing so, you will be able to play your DVD movies on iPhone, iPad, Samsung Tablets, or any other portable devices and put them on the cloud. Moreover, ripping DVDs to media files can save your room space. This article points out the tips you should consider, and lists the top 5 free DVD ripper for Mac, together with the best alternative to free ones.
Best DVD Ripper for Mac (Support DRM-ed DVD)
Use Cisdem Video Converter- the powerful DVD ripping software for Mac to:
- Rip movie DVD to MP4/HD MP4/HEVC MP4, MOV, AVI MKV, M4V, etc.
- Extract audio from DVD to MP3, AAC, AC3, WMA, WAV, FLAC, etc.
- Convert DVDs to optimized presets for iPhone, iPad, HUAWEI, MI, PS4, etc.
- Rip DVD/DVD folder/ISO to digital formats
- Remove DVD copy protection like Region Code, CSS, etc.
- Convert video & audio files between 300+ digital formats
- Download videos from 1000+ websites, YouTube.com included
- Edit (trim, crop, apply effects, etc.) and merge DVD videos
- Advanced settings to change the output file codec, quality, bitrate, etc.
- Preview DVD movies via built-in video player
- 30X faster speed
- >> 4 Tips to Choose the Best Free DVD Ripper for Mac
- >> Top 5 Best Free DVD Ripper for Mac
- >> Where Free DVD Ripping Software for Mac Fall Short?
- >> Perfect Alternative- The Robust yet Simple DVD Ripper for Mac
4 Tips to Choose the Best Free DVD Ripper for Mac
There is a vast variety of free DVD ripper software on the market. Each of them has a common advantage, which is to help you rip DVD for free. But it's not enough, and more aspects you should take into consideration while choosing a free DVD ripper for Mac. I've sorted out several tips below for your reference.
1. DVD Ripping Speed - DVD videos are usually in large sizes and need to spend some time to convert. Using a super-fast free Mac DVD ripper will save you a lot of time.
2. The Output Quality - To enjoy the high-definition video is of great pleasure. Or else, not only your eyes may get hurt, but also the annoying jumpy and mosaics will also bother you.
3. Supported Format - The output format compatible with your digital player device is another point you should take in. The more output options, the better the DVD ripper.
4. Additional Customization Features- It will be the icing on the cake if a free DVD ripper lets you configure the output parameters and edit DVD videos before ripping them out.
Top 5 Best Free DVD Rippers for Mac
#1 HandBrake
OS Platform: Mac OS X 10.11 or later
HandBrake is an open-source video transcoder. It's the most welcomed free DVD ripper for Mac and Windows. The app was produced by Eric Petit and originally designed for ripping movies from DVD.
Today, Handbrake allows you to rip non-protected DVDs, Blu-ray to MP4, MKV, and universal device presets like iPhone, iPod, Apple TV (2/3), Android Tablet, etc. But this free Mac DVD ripper can only output MP4 or MKV video files. If you wish to make the ripped video compatible with other formats such as AVI, MOV, MPEG, MP3, etc., HandBrake can't help.
Its ripping speed depends on the files upload. For a small file, it won’t take too long. For a large one, it maybe takes a long time. The final quality is not bad. If you are not hurrying to get your converted video, you could take it.
#2 MacX DVD Ripper Mac Free Edition
OS Platform: Mac OS X 10.6 or above
MacX offers a free DVD ripper for Mac users. The free version can rip DVD movies to MP4, MOV, M4V, MP3, AAC, AC3, Apple TV, and iTunes.
But Compares with its paid version, it's unable to back up & rip the latest copy-protected DVDs for free, and rip DVDs for some hot devices, like iPad Pro, iPhone (11/Pro/Max), Android, Samsung Galaxy S7, HTC, PS4, etc.
If you can bear the limited output formats and unsatisfying speed, this Mac DVD ripper free is a decent option. Anyway, it can meet your basic DVD ripping necessary.
Note: MacX seems to have given up upgrading and promoting DVD Ripper Mac Free Edition. The download link on its official website has been replaced by MacX DVD Ripper Pro (the paid program). To download the free version, you are able to find it on some app download sites like softonic.com, download3k.com, etc.
#3 ffmpegX
OS Platform: OS X 10.7 to 10.14 (OS X 10.3 to 10.7 version available on official site)
Rip Copy Protected Dvd Mac Free
ffmpegX is an open resource free DVD ripper for Mac. It was first to run on Linux, and later it can be compiled under most operating systems, including Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, AmigaOS.
ffmpegX is a very experimental and developer-driven project. It supports the most popular formats except HD video. Based on the customers' review, its output quality is not too bad. The components mpeg2enc (mpeg-2 encoder and multiplexer), mencorder (mpeg-4 encoder with subtitles support), myplayer are not distributed with ffmpegX and must be self-installed.
This free DVD ripping software for Mac has not been updated for over 10 years. When you start encoding, it's prone to failure. Meanwhile, ffmpegX doesn't recognize a DVD disk device, just a DVD folder & VOB file, and can't remove any DVD decryption.
#4 MacTheRipper
OS Platform: Mac OS X 10.8 or higher
MTR (named MacTheRipper) is the Mac’s oldest and smartest DVD - backup application, now greater than ever. The speed of the MTR is ok. It merely takes a few minutes to rip a small DVD.
However, this free DVD ripper for Mac is unstable, especially on Sierra, High Sierra version, and later versions. It may be crashing, shut down by itself, or failure to launch. And the output quality will not as good as you think.
Note: MacTheRipper is no longer free currently. For example version 5.0.0.5 is a paid upgrade. Licensed owners of version 4.3 who donated within the last 365 days can upgrade for free. But for those who donated more than 365 days ago should upgrade for $10. The last free version is MacTheRipper 2.6.6, which only supports Mac OS X 10.6 Leopard or older.
#5 VLC
OS Platform: Mac OS X 10.7.5 or above
VLC, coming from a non-profit organization composed of volunteers, is dedicated to the development and promotion of open-source multimedia solutions. It can also run on Windows, Android, and Ubuntu. The initial function of this free DVD ripper for Mac is to play media files in various formats and resolutions. Through improvements, VLC began to support audio and video transcoding to help you convert videos and DVDs.
However, VLC free Mac DVD ripper can't process multiple videos, DVD folders, or ISO images in batches and won’t defeat any kind of DRM. And you have to accept the fact that the video ripped by VLC will cause quality degradation.
Note: If you agree with its concept and its effort in developing VLC, don't forget to donate $5.00 on its page.
Where Free DVD Ripping Software for Mac Fall Short?
From the above introductions, we can judge that the free DVD ripper for Mac has obvious shortcomings, for example:
- Can't retain high-quality output
- The speed is not always fast
- Limited output formats and profiles
- No further video editing feature
- Can't rip DRM encrypted DVDs, like Handbrake and VLC
- Stop update, like MacX DVD Ripper Mac Free Edition
- Not free in the new versions, such as MacTheRipper
- Difficult for the novice, such as FFmpeg
It seems that no free Mac DVD ripper meets the criteria mentioned in part 1, but paid one does. Therefore, you are better off using the commercial and effective DVD ripper instead.
Perfect Alternative- The Robust yet Simple DVD Ripper for Mac
Cisdem Video Converter is the best alternative to the free DVD ripper Mac. It's a highly interactive program that delivers lossless ripping of media content at an ultra-fast speed and obtains high-quality possible results. It provides a free trial version for you to test its performance before purchasing. The trial version can rip the first 5 minutes of the DVD. If your DVD video is less than 5 minutes, it will convert half of the content.
Best DVD Ripper for Mac
- Rip general or copyrighted DVD to mainstream video/audio formats
- Rip movie or music DVD to ready-made presets for all popular devices
- Adjust the frame rate, resolution, bit rate, etc. of DVD video
- Edit DVD video with trimming, cropping, subtitles, watermarks, and more
- Convert digital video from one format to another
- Download videos from YouTube, Vimeo, Facebook, and other 1000+ sites
- Rip DVDs, convert & download videos in batches
- Crisp and easy-to-use interface
- Available on OS X 10.10 or higher, including macOS Big Sur
How to Rip DVD via the Best Alternative to Free DVD Ripper for Mac:
Step 1. Launch Cisdem Video Converter
After installation, run the software. You will see 3 tabs for different functions. The second tab is for DVD ripping.
Step 2. Import DVD videos
Insert your DVD into the Mac slot. Its icon will appear in the sidebar of the Finder app. Then you have two ways to add the DVD disc:
- Straightly drag the DVD or VIDEO-TS folder to the interface of Cisdem Mac DVD ripper.
- Navigate to 'File' > 'Add DVD' in the menu bar to import your DVD content.
Step 3. Configure output profiles
Click the format icon to open the output file panel. All the output formats have been already divided into various categories. For example, if you desire to play the DVD movie on your iPhone, you can go to 'Apple Device' > 'iPhone', and choose your phone model. Or select the universal format- MP4, just head over to 'General Video' > 'MP4 Video'.
For getting better video/audio quality, click icon to open a window, and tweak the output parameter settings.
Step 4. Choose titles and languages
A DVD movie may contain multiple titles, audio languages, and subtitle languages. You can manually choose what you want.
Step 5. Rip DVD to digital files
Hit button at the lower right corner to begin ripping your DVD to MP4, Apple TV, or other formats.
Pro tip: edit your DVD videos
Dvd Copy Mac Freeware
Click button to find your ripped videos. Drag-n-drop them to the “convert” interface.
Click button, and you'll able to edit the DVD movies by rotating, adding 3D effects, and external subtitles & audio.
Bottom line
These are the 5 free DVD rippers for Mac and alternative. If you only want to rip DVD to a common-used format without editing feature, I recommend Handbrake, MacX DVD Ripper Mac Free Edition, and VLC for beginners. For users who are using OS X 10.6 or lower, MacTheRipper 2.6.6 and ffmpegX are nice options. To make everything easy and efficient, an all-in-one DVD ripping software for Mac like Cisdem Video Converter is the best choice, which can rip copy-protected DVDs as well.