'Copy protected' - don't always believe the label

[Jackonicko]

I bought the new album by the Darkness yesterday. After Glastonbury you just had to, right?

I bought it from my local small record shop (counter service) so it wasn't til I got it home that I saw the label. It said it was playable on most CD players. It is. It said that it could 'also be played on most CD-Rom drives, by means of the included compressed sound file'.

And so I thought I'd see what it meant.

I tried it in the Smart Disk VST CD-ROM/RW hooked up to my iMac DVSE first.

Three tracks showed up fine (the first three) and ripped fine in iTunes. The rest of the album was on one massive 4 GB file which wouldn't rip, in anything under 16 hours.

I tried it in the slot-loading iMac CD-ROM drive.

All the tracks showed up in iTunes and all except track 4 ripped fine. There was no sign of tracks 4-10 being one track only.

I tried it in the tray-loading CD/RW drive of my iBook 900. Eureka. It all showed up fine and it all ripped fine, too. Even track 4. And it ripped to MP3 and AIFF fine as well. And yes, I burned a CD, just to check out that that worked too. It did.

So the question is, do the CD protection bods ignore us Mac users because we're a) numerically insignificant and b) not the type of chap to steal music, or is the CD protection on this particular CD just not very good?

PS: When Kerrang said: "Bold brilliant and built to last. The Darkness are the greatest rock'n'roll band of the last twenty years" they were exaggerating. But not by much. This is an awesomely good record.

[Bob]

Pomp Rock is back eh?
I caught a brief snippet of them at Glastonbury and thought they were a breeze of fresh air in the stagnant pond that is music just now!

Re: CP CD's - I really want to get the Foo Fighters latest CD, but it has the CP warning on the back plus the little green circle computer icons which warn buyers that they are not suitable for use in PC's.
Call me stubborn, but on a matter of principle I won't buy these non music CD's, but would be interested if anyone has managed to rip "One by One" on a Mac.

[sn0ski]

One by One ripped fine on my Mac G4

[smerko]

ripped with me 2 on win 2k

[randydecker]

I bought Hail to the Thief and was disappointed to see the copy protected label on the back when I got home. I'm not sure if i would have bought it if I had noticed it when it was on the shelf. I copied it to my HD using iTunes no problem. Am I missing something? What exactly does "copy" mean?

[Bob]

randy,
Not sure if you have read these threads protected cd's and the future of MP3 ripping (http://www.xsorbit1.com/users/dennx/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&num=1033559293) and Protected CD - not (http://www.xsorbit1.com/users/dennx/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&num=1035694711) but it is a good place to start. ;)

[randydecker]

MadPict, So I wonder why the CD says Copy Protected when it's not? Does it only work on some systems? I'm not complaining but like you It's a deterrent for me. I mean now if see the copy protected sticker I would be much less likely to buy a CD. Makes no sense to me for the distributors to make a product less attractive. I play all my music frm my HD or iPod and never use one of my 4 cd players. They're obsolete. CDs are a medium density storage/backup solution to me.

[Bob]

Well, all I can say really is that if I buy a CP CD by mistake and I can't rip from it I will take it back to the shop for a refund. My consumer rights will at least allow me that right in the UK.

It is not a music CD as defined by the co-creator of CD's, Philips (article (http://web.archive.org/web/20020124164453/http://news.com.com/2100-1023-817937.html))
"Philips, because of conformity issues, has warned the record labels that the discs are actually not CDs at all and must bear warning labels to inform consumers.
"We've made sure they would put a very clear warning that you're not buying a compact disc, but something different," Wirtz said. "We've been warning some labels to begin with, and they've adjusted their behavior."
That means labels would also be barred from using the familiar "compact disc" logo that has been stamped on every CD since Philips and Sony jointly developed the technology in 1978."

A list of current warning labels can be found here (http://ukcdr.org/issues/cd/warnings/)

[randydecker]

I can't believe the short sightedness of yhe RIAA. You'd think with the bloated salaries might come some semblence of intelligence.

[neo]

All:

The short of it is that most copy protection schemes rely on improper implementations of the music cd standards in cdrom firmware. When those are fixed up, (to my knowledge) no copy protection schemes work. This would make sense, since the original standards had no provisions for copy protection. I would guess that macs use better drives, thus better implementations of the standards.

I have attempted to rip several "copy protected" cds with my plextor drive, and it has always worked to date.

n

[Jackonicko]

That makes some sense. Certainly the newer my hardware, the better it seems to ignore the protection.

Hurrah! Another reason to switch!!!

[Bob]

Disaster has struck the home of MadPict!

Mrs MadPict (bless her) has bought me 2 albums - Foo Fighters "One By One" and Kings of Leon "Youth and Young Manhood". I failed in my education of her in all things Copy Protection - "Its a CD isn't it? And you were looking at them the other day!"

Now, Foo Fighters ripped fine (well I just had to try it didn't I? ;) ) but the Kings of Leon CD does not want to know in either Mac or PC.
In fact it doesn't like playing in the Sony Walkman CD player - every track skips at the 9 second point. Just a small stutter but it is there.
It plays OK on my hifi CD player, so do I keep this evil non-music BMG product. (I am tempted to keep it to see if I can thwart the CP by hook or by crook(ed) means, but my my principles are screaming at me right now).

The skipping thing at 9 secs is interesting, and I wonder if it is down to the CP?
It is enough for me to return it as defective, as it affects the playback, but there must be a way to get around this CP.

The front of the CD sleeve is white and just visible on the bottom left corner in a slightly darker shade of shiny white is this logo



- not at all prominent!! (Replace the black portion with the slightly off-white and that's how obvious it is!)

The rear does carry the BMG Cactus Control logo


but with the security frames used these days it is probably not really visible until the frame is removed.

Bearing in mind the popularity of the Kings of Leon and their album being hailed as the "Best debut album of the last ten years", I think there could be a lot of unhappy punters out there.

[Bob]

Follow up to the "9 second stutter" - have just read this over at Campaign for Digital Rights. (http://ukcdr.org/)
"Hail to the thief" by Radiohead: Reported corrupt in the Netherlands, Canada, Israel, Norway, Australia, Italy and the UK, and as supplied by CD-WOW and PLAY.com. The corrupt format is Cactus-200. This CD is reported to cause severe playback problems (sticking on tracks, failing to play, etc) on one tested CD player. Skips and stops are reported on a new Sony Discman, especially 10 seconds into the tracks. A laptop user reported that it sounded like the disc was trying to destroy his drive. Normal playback failed on a tested PC, but cdparanoia extracted the audio without problem. On another PC, winamp playback was possible for all but the last 3 tracks. Some PC drives completely fail to recognise the disc, but some others read it without problem. Extraction on one iMac failed 9 seconds into a track. The quality of audio from the special PC player app (when it works) is noticably poorer than CD-quality audio (36kbps WMA files!).

[Jackonicko]

If you know anyone with a newer iBook (me if all else fails) then try ripping it on that. As I said, the Copy Protected Darkness album would not rip properly on my iMac DVSE, but rips fine on the iBook......

Also which version of iTunes are you trying to rip with?

[Bob]

iTunes 4.0.1 - it just sits in the tray churning away like an old toploading washer!

I put it into my PC and it prompted me to install software to access the CD - I'm not wanting to install anything that I have no control or knowledge of, so it will remain unplayed on my computers.

I have a USB Iomega zipCD 650 hooked up for burning from my PC, I may give that a go - this is all new to me so I guess I have to access the CD and find the audio files on it.

[randydecker]

What kills me about all this is that some exec somewhere got a raise for initiating this whole scheme. I'm happy that my "Hail to the Thief" played normally on my G4 and I was able to copy it into iTunes using both .aiff and AAC. I wonder does any RIAA associated member ever read these fora?

[AptMunich]

Besides, even if something is copy protected, you can always get around it with 'eac'. (on pc's at least)


It shows the data part of the cd that normally contains the player function which prevents copying normally as an extra track, and enables you to just rip the normal audio part!


If you need to that is ;)


RIAA eat my crisply burnt chicken wings that will most probably kill anyone who goes near them as they've been in the oven for approx. 45 min...

[randydecker]

I have a Powerbook 5300c that's been sitting here on my desk unused for years. I just dust it occasionally. I'm thinking you want one that's a little faster than 100 mhz?

[Bob]

Three things - Post-it Notes, Sellotape and a craft knife.

Result - one Copyright Protected CD ripped.

Say no more. ;)

[jwong79]

Originally posted by MadPict
Three things - Post-it Notes, Sellotape and a craft knife.

Result - one Copyright Protected CD ripped.

Say no more. ;)

MacPict- Can you explain this? What do I do with the post it notes, sellotape and craft knife??

[Bob]

Apparently, if you cover the outer "track" on a CP CD with something like Post-it Notes or tape it prevents the data in this track being read (CD's read from the inside to the outside) - the same trick using a felt pen works, but I may have had to return the CP CD if it didn't work, so I used an easily removable 'mask'.

Its not rocket science and is a widely known trick but geez, record companies, how much have you spent on this project??

Give it up and give us our consumer rights back!!

[dlabrosse]

Can't remember the exact protocal but a friend of mine used Toast to copy only the music files off a CP CD onto a blank CD-R, Then was able to rip to his hard drive with no probs.

[Jackonicko]

I found that iTunes ripped more robustly than Toast, and was more prepared to 'ignore' the CD copy protection

[Bob]

Jacko,
Well my iTunes needed a little help from 3M! ;)

[eustacescrubb]

You'd think with the bloated salaries might come some semblence of intelligence.

Don't know many high-paid corporate types, do you? ;)

[randydecker]

I guess i don't hang out with the right crowd. But seriously, someone somewhere must have a clue. Do they all sit around the boardrooms looking grim and chanting "We must stamp out filesharing!" It's time they started developing an action plan that rewarded consumers not punishing them. Why don't they offer super audiophile tracks on DVDs encoded at 96 khz? Why not sell hard drives with music already on them according to the customers choice? (all at the highest possible bit rate) They could offer the CDs or DVDs as backups. I see that the number of Jazz and Blues CDs sold actually increased last year. Why don't they examine why? Why don't they look at the EMIMEM set and appeal to their base needs? (what ever they are).

[eustacescrubb]

I think it's because modern corporations have given up on the "make a fabulous product that's sturdy and long-lasting which sells for cheaper than your competitors" model in favor of the "strong-arm your presence into legislation and bully competitors" for so long that they've started to believe that profits are their right. Honestly. I reminds of the utter bafflement nobility in monarchies had when peasants would revolt.

Record companies have been at immoral "intellectual property" practices for so long (ripping off artists and consumers) that they have begun to think their immoral practices are normative, and therefore don't see that file-sharing is a direct consequence of their behavior - like that kind in the 1980s drug commercial in which a kid is caught doing pot, and his dad, a coke addict, says "Where did you learn to do this?" and the kid says "I learned it from watching you!" Perpetrators of great crimes cry the loudest when they become victims of petty crimes.

[randydecker]

Hey that makes me think of a group from the '80s "The Payolas". I'll bet you're too young to remember them. Their only hit was "Let's Go to F**king Hawaii" Great party tune.

[dweebgal]

RE: copy protected cd's.

i'm sure i read somewhere that the copy protection mean that by redbook standards these aren't even audio cds anymore!!

but ways around it as far as i know:

the old magic marker trick.

or, rip the whole cd as an image file using something like clone-cd.
mount said image sing something like deamon tools and rip from that.

i dunno wether either of these work, i've enver done it, if i buy a cd and cant rip it legitimately, i download the album as well, much less hassle!!

so i am living proof that this method wont stamp out filesharing, people will go, urrgh ain;t buyign a duff cd, and just download instead!!!

[SouthsideIrish]

Originally posted by AptMunich
Besides, even if something is copy protected, you can always get around it with 'eac'. (on pc's at least)



The new version of EAC isn't ripping my Japanese copy-protected CD's anymore, so that isn't an option anymore. I'm now trying to figure out what version I used to have. (

Bill McNair

[Jackonicko]

I bought 'Youth and Young Manhood' by Kings of Leon yesterday.

It has a BMG Copy Control logo stating that it won't play on Macs.

It does.

It rips to iTunes just fine in OS 9.2.2, on my 900 MHz iBook and is now on my pod. The last track is over-long, and contains a few minutes of silence, but that's it.

That's two copy protection systems that don't faze the new iBook.....

[Bob]

hmmm, it wouldn't play on my 600 iBook - only after I masked the CD did it work but the final track would not read at all.
I hadn't thought of trying it under OS9 (Classic)
You know there is a hidden track after "Holy Roller Novocaine"?

What do you think of the album?

[kristofer]

There are a number of CDs I've wanted to buy recently but did not in the end due to copy protection (either won't play on a computer, or will only play under Windows which I use at the moment, but who knows what I'll be using in a few months?).

So what did I do? Just downloaded MP3s (if I did not have them already). There is no way I will buy a copy protected CD. Voila, a few sales less for the record companies, and all their own fault.

If ever I'm given one as a present, then hopefully I'll be able to rip using EAC, or CloneCD + EAC (the later *definately* should work).

[Bob]

I won't buy them either - but I got given "One by One" by the Foo Fighters and "Youth & Young Manhood" by Kings Of leon.
Thankfully the Foo Fighters ripped fine even though it is copy protected but the Kings Of Leon had to be "doctored" to rip as I said above.

I can't say to someone "I don't want your present", but if I could not have ripped them then I think they would have gone back as faulty CD's.
The Kings Of Leon will not play properly on our Sony CD Walkman - there is a skip 9 seconds into every track - very annoying and its down to the dam n copy control!!

[SouthsideIrish]

EAC has been giving me problems ripping copy-protected CD's so I had to switch to audiograbber, now it's not a problem anymore. Does anyone know how good audiograbber is as a ripper.

Bill McNair

[Jackonicko]

Madpict:

Yes, thanks for telling me that, that's why Holy Roller is so long - the hidden track starts 8.22 in, and goes to the end.....

It's OK..... I'm unconvinced so far, though. Pleasant but not up to the hype.....

iTunes 2 OS 9.2.2 and (I suspect most importantly) a new 900 MHz iBook had no problem with it at all.

[Jackonicko]

What did you think of it?

[Bob]

I have to admit to liking them - I caught them on Jools Holland a while back and they played Molly's Chambers and another track.
They have a sort of rockabilly feel to them (not that I am a rockabilly devotee) and I just find my self wanting to strum my air guitar!!
The hype is maybe a bit overblown, but they are a pleasant change to the current spate of American angst rock that is featuring in the album charts just now. A genre I have bought into so I am not knocking that style!

[Jackonicko]

And another example of a protected CD which rips fine to my 900 MHz iBook:

'Kokopelli' by Kosheen.

[mintcake]

I bought Kraftwerk's Tour de France Soundtracks the other day which has EMI's copy protection (indicated by the graphic pasted by MadPict on page 1 of this thread). When I first tried ripping it in Windows with CDex I got empty mp3 files as output, or files that played the first ten seconds or so before going silent. I found that upgrading to the latest release of CDex got around the problem (though it sometimes took a couple of attempts to rip some tracks).

Note that, if all else fails, I assume one can play the CD through a standalone CD player into your soundcard and capture it as a .wav in Nero or something, then encode the resulting file as .mp3 in CDex. A lot of hassle, sure, but I don't think you'd lose any sound quality.

[neo]

mintcake:

Note that, if all else fails, I assume one can play the CD through a standalone CD player into your soundcard and capture it as a .wav in Nero or something, then encode the resulting file as .mp3 in CDex. A lot of hassle, sure, but I don't think you'd lose any sound quality.

You can even do this with some sound cards and a sort of "loopback" cable, connecting the analog out to the analog in on the card. While it will not be an exact digital copy, for all practical purposes it would be identical to such.

n

[JonLambert]

I've read this thread, and am not clear on a few things. Do these Cd's play on computers or does the computer simply not recognise that a cd is in the drive. I have had a number of cd with that logo on, that will play fine on my pc, but when you try and rip them, it wont let you, although I have found a very easy way round this using Nero. I have to say that the ones that I have ripped are not very recent cd's so perhaps the copy protection has changed.

You can even do this with some sound cards and a sort of "loopback" cable, connecting the analog out to the analog in on the card.

With the majority of sound cards you should be able to do this internally, therefore guaranteeing the highest possible sound quality. For a Mac, I dont know how to do this, but for a PC:

Double click the little speaker icon in the corner of the screen.
On the advanced tag, select recording controls
A list of inputs such as Line In, Modem, Microphone should now appear with all their individual volumes.
Look for an option such as Stereo Mix, and select it as the input.
You can now record directly to the hard drive using a recording program, any sound that your computer makes.

[mintcake]

Originally posted by JonLambert
I've read this thread, and am not clear on a few things. Do these Cd's play on computers or does the computer simply not recognise that a cd is in the drive. In my case, the copy-protected CD would try to play through its own software player which it would try to auto-install. It wouldn't play through WMP or Winamp, for example. However, it *would* play through the bog standard CD player in Windows (which emulates a standalone CD player I guess).

[JonLambert]

I see, this sounds very similar to a cd I have by Lasgo. If you put it in the drive it plays the tracks through its own player in low quality. However the actual cd contents will play in WMP and Winamp. When trying to rip the contents of the cd in nero, it doesnt allow you to save files to the hard drive (hence the CP seems to be working). But creating a new cd and dragging and dropping the .cda files into a new compilcation does work, and you can then remove the copy protection yourself!!!!

I have to say that I have yet to come across any cd that will not play in my computers cd drive.

[Jackonicko]

In my case, the CDs play OK on all my Macs, but will not rip, or will not fully rip except on the newest machine (the 900 MHz iBook) which rips them in iTunes without fuss or bother of any kind at all.

Another good reason to buy an iBook for your iPod/Music management needs!

[ambika]

Wow, I didn't even know that such copy protection existed. "One by One' and "Hail to the Thief" ripped fine on my 12" powerbook combo drive, and are currently on my ipod. I just went and looked for such a copy protection note on my copy of "Hail to the Thief" and couldn't find one. I suppose it's because it's the special edition version? I'd be severely disappointed if Radiohead started to implement such blocks on their cds. They're one of my all time favorite bands. Although I suppose they have a right to be ####ed considering the way their unfinished album leaked out. I'd be mad about that too.

Then again...it's not even the band, it's the record label now isn't it.

[imianwilliams]

Hi folks.

I started a similar topic to this over on the music forum, (http://ipodlounge.com/forums/showthread.php?postid=40674#post40674post40674) but it's probably simpler if we keep all posts together in this thread.

I notice somebody mentioned they had problems ripping The Darkness's album? That's wierd, as I brought Kosheen & The Darkness at the same time. The Darkness ripped perfectly, but my lappy couldn't cope with Kosheen.

Just generally repeating what everybody else has said, & agreeing with all your comments. .......what hairbrained F*^%wit dreamed up this system that loses sales for the record label & artist, & also forces legitamate music fans (who are happy to support their favourite bands) to illegally download the music instead.

I've poured the majority of my disposable income into the record industry for the last 25 years, & I just can't believe we've got to this ridiciulous situation.:mad:

[lozzd]

I recently bought Rob Dougans "Furious Angels" (Great album btw) from CD-WOW.com so i had no way of knowing this had that wonderful cactus protection on it. When i got it in the post and read the back i was dissapointed. But nevertherless, i tried anyway. Sure enough I couldn't read the audio tracks. The audio section was all hidden. I was annoyed! I wanted this CD on my Pod! I put it in my CD player and listened to it the normal way while i found a fix.

The CD didnt even get past the first track (and its about 20 seconds long)

A quick search in google and the first result tells me sticking selotape over the outside data track (but being careful not to go far over the line into the last audio track)

So out it came, and on went the tape. First attempt, perfect.

Data track? What data track!? :D
Every track ripped perfectly. I was lucky enough not to mix the last seconds of the last track either, which was good.

After that, off came the selotape and the CD went back in its box and onto my CD rack full of dusty CDs that I have no use to listen to cos they're all on my iPod :D

A story of happiness..

It makes me laugh that the record industry probably paid billions for this protection. Well perhaps only millions. Only. And what expensive technology defeats it in a couple of minutes? A 50p roll of sellotape. Fantastic.

Enjoy,
Laurie

[Bob]

Laurie,
I also have the Rob Dougan CD (great isn't it?) but it ripped fine for me - in fact I think I may have a proper CD, not one of the CP CD's.
I did a similar thing with Kings Of Leon, although I used Post-It notes trimmed to fit. It wouldn't read the final track as it had a hidden track included (see a previous post and reply from Jackonicko) and the new The Darkness CD read fine but it could not read/rip the first track for some reason.

Edit:
I'm moving this to Music>General and making it sticky as it is a good guide for those CD's you may buy and then get home to find have some form of Copy Protection on.
Use it to warn or advise other members about artists/labels employing CP.

[imianwilliams]

Just a follow up to my Kosheen posting...

My curiousity got the better of me, so I popped out & brought Kokopelli again. I'm determined to find a way round it, & I think I have.

The CD failed to rip or play in any application on my winxp laptop, I couldn't even navigate to the files & import it into CoolEdit Pro. So I strolled upstairs, fired up my trusty old Rev B iMac that my girlfriend now uses solely for internet & email. .....& BINGO!! :D

As I type. Kosheen's Kokopelli is happily ripping in iTunes on my old iMac (Running OS 9.2). I was going to flog the iMac & try & move my girlfriend over to a windows machine, but there's no way that's gonna happen now. It looks like I'll need the iMac just for ripping protected CD's.

If that didn't work, I was all set to install Lindows on a really old PC I've still got lying about. ;)

[Jackonicko]

See, we Mac owners know a thing or two.......

Why on earth would you replace an iMac with a PC? Replace it with an iBook 900 dual boot............. and you can never worry about copy protection again.

[imianwilliams]

Originally posted by Jackonicko
Why on earth would you replace an iMac with a PC? Replace

I DJ a couple of nights a week, so I wanted a computer based DJing solution.

At the time I brought my laptop (approx 18 months ago), there were no serous DJing programmes available for the Mac. Traktor DJ studio was still a few months away from its Mac OS release.

So I had no choice, it had to be a PC. DJing weapons of choice are PCDJ Red, Traktor DJ Studio, or PCDJ FX (which on its next update is finally going to be the killer app' they promised it would be).

....I think my next machine might be a 12" powerbook though!! :cool:

[madricka]

Bought a copy of The Dandy Warhols "Welcome to the Monkey House" -- Copy Controlled & all... annoyed, but determined to copy it to put it on my iPod. So I get home, pop it in my eMac & open it via iTunes... well, CDDB doesn't find it (not a total surprise) & iTunes lists 8 tracks instead of 13 & the supposed 8th track is 15-1/2 minutes long & contains nothing but noise if I try to scroll through it -- if I let it play, the "marker" doesn't move forward but the remaining tracks play in sequence. I am so annoyed by this I want to run screaming into the store where I purchased this cd. All of this AFTER including a little note inside the cd case talking about passionate music lovers & thank you for buying music instead of stealing it. How am I supposed to enjoy my PURCHASED music if I can't listen to the #### thing???

I would return it but unfortunately, I really, really want to copy it to my iPod. You guys keep talking about either masking tape or markers to fix this mess. Anyone care to give me a brief run-down of how to achieve this?

thanks!

tina

[Jackonicko]

Failing all else I'll rip it for you!

[Bob]

Madricka,
Take a look at the data side of the CD - see a seperate track running around the outside (maybe ?" wide)?. You need to mask that off. CD's read from the inside to the outside so it won't affect the music content (well it shouldn't but...)
If you feel a bit nervous about using a felt tip pen as some do then use tape or even the sticky bits of Post-it Notes (this may stop the disc spinning if it is too thick) trimmed off around the edge of the CD. (I used this method on the Kings Of Leon CPCD - the last track would not rip, but I think that was more due to it having a hidden song in it).

I did post some links in either this thread (http://www.xsorbit1.com/users/dennx/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&num=1033559293) or this one (http://www.xsorbit1.com/users/dennx/index.cgi?board=general&action=display&num=1035694711) to various sites, some of which may have more detailed instructions.

[Jackonicko]

My Kings of Leon ripped fine, Bob!

PS: What do you think of Second Coming, then, you Welsh ingrate?

[Bob]

I did send you an email thanking you for the reading material and the CD's, so gratitude was expressed :P

Second Coming is good - I don't recognise any of the tracks as the ones I had heard previously.

Tony Remy is also very good - my kind of stuff that.

[Jackonicko]

I expect much greater effusiveness about the best album in the World, Bob. I hope you're giving it time to seep into your heart.....

[Bob]

It is spinning as I type now - "Let me put you in the picture, let me show you what I mean..........." Dum de dum dum dum............

"Best album in the world" though?
Hmmmmm, that could be the subject of great debate over a Ploughmans and a pint :) - it certainly would not have been an album I would have picked up off a music shop shelf, but having listened to it I would probably venture into the Stone Roses back catalogue with a more open mind now.
Which, in a sense, is a victory for you ;)

[madricka]

Oddly, I took it out to look at the data track... noticed there was one about 1/4" from the outer edge, plus a thick one along the outer edge. I put it back in my tray & for some wacky reason, CDDB recognized it & I'm ripping it as we speak. Go figure. It didn't work the 800 times I tried it yesterday but it works today!

Thanks though, I'll keep this in mind for future CD problems!

-- tina

[Pickledhales]

Foo Fighters seems to rip fine on all computers i've tried, so whether the label is bluffing or just don't quite understand the premise behind copy protection i don't know. The Darkness is the only CD i've ever encountered a problem with, i had to resort to using a line-in from my hi-fi and record them myself

[larryni]

I bought the Darkness album a few weeks ago as well, but only because I didn't really pay attention and didn't see the protection logo. Then on Saturday I went out to get the Kings of Leon album, and because the sleeve is white and the copy protection logo is light gray again I didn't see it! All of BMG's new releases are now protected http://www.bmg-copycontrol.info/

The following is about the best report on Cactus 200 copy protection I found. With it I had no problems getting around it - all you need is the right hard- and software. http://www.cdrinfo.com/Sections/Articles/Specific.asp?ArticleHeadline=Cactus%20Data%20Shiel d%20200&index=0. It also explains really well how the protection works (or not :D).

I did have to get a lend of a good CD burner from work, it doesn't work with every drive. You can rip the tracks right off the original (so-called) CD's using Feurio! CD Writer http://www.feurio.com but I'm not so convinced of the quality of the tracks. A better way is to get CDClone (21-day evaluation copy) http://www.elby.ch/en/products/clone_cd/index.html, make a backup of the album as a Music CD and all the crap is stripped from it - no more copy protection. I then used EAC to rip the tracks, and the error correction lights didn't even flicker once for either album.

[Jackonicko]

Or you could buy an iBook 900.....

[theflyingbeagle]

Hi all,

Just bought the kings of leon cd and could not rip it normally, but found a solution....this is the post I put in the lounge about what I did:

OK Good news

I have managed to do it.

I downloaded clone cd 4 at the following location http://www.elby.ch/en/products/clone_cd/index.html

and then I copied the CD to a blank cd using the audio cd option.

I then put the copy cd into the player and it showed up in MC9 with just the audio tracks

I then ripped it no problem.

Thanks for the help Jackonicko....

In the end I found a site that talked about clonecd4, it said that it would now work on some players, but it worked on mine.

Anyway just thought you would all like to know, this seems to be the way around it.

Cheers,

Paul

[Mario]

I have a couple of suggestions - got linked here - looks promising..

Can I also suggest an easier way of masking off the copy protection track - use a dry wipe marker, quick easy and completely reversable. :D

[Mario]

here being here (http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2003Oct/gee20031007022099.htm)

[pseudojag]

I was able to rip Radiohead's 'Hail to the Thief' & Tool's new album? but

the mp3's contain little clicks throughout the song?

Have others encountered this (quickly scanned first dozen posts? no mention); being able to rip but audio quality is suffering from clicking?

I presume my Mac (Dual 867, DVD-Rom / CD-R) ignores the copy protection and yet? somehow it stills ruins the ACTUAL music.

Sad.

[SlutMonkey]

Thanks for all the tips... I recently bought the Stokes' latest album Room On Fire (a great album btw), which I wanted to rip onto my iPod. I noticed that the CD did not work at all on my PC (a new Wintel laptop), it just made "clicking" noises so I followed some tips and did the following:

1. Cut small pieces of tape.
2. Stuck them to the 'copyright' track of the CD. (see pic below)
3. Inserted the CD in my computer
4. After some seconds of spinning the CD is now recognised as an "audio CD" rather than a "data CD"
5. Start iTunes (you can of course use any program you like)
6. Rip as Mp3

The Strokes album has the BMG copyright protection system.

[SlutMonkey]

Hi again...
I just performed the same trick on a CD with "Virgin Records copy control technology"... Put some pieces of sticky tape on the outer edge of the "protection" track - works like a charm...

N.B. I am using colored semi-transparent tape... I guess any tape but clear one works...

[Chadian22]

The music industry is dumb. They figure they can trick people that deserve what they paid for. Just like hackers, if you really want it you can get it. As long as that music cd still has to play and contain the data, it's still vulernable and with the companies doing taking this security measure vs the rest of the people who believe in proper rights , of course we're going to find a way to get what we believe in, and they can't stop us, as long as they give us the media. why do they keep trying to fight, they're wasting their money in r&d of these security measures when they could be spending that money in a new solution that encourages everyone to get what they want and pay for.

[SlutMonkey]

Originally posted by Chadian22
The music industry is dumb. They figure they can trick people that deserve what they paid for. Just like hackers, if you really want it you can get it. As long as that music cd still has to play and contain the data, it's still vulernable and with the companies doing taking this security measure vs the rest of the people who believe in proper rights , of course we're going to find a way to get what we believe in, and they can't stop us, as long as they give us the media. why do they keep trying to fight, they're wasting their money in r&d of these security measures when they could be spending that money in a new solution that encourages everyone to get what they want and pay for.


Couldn't have said it better...

The music industry is really fighting fire with fire... CDs are now about US$24 here in Europe (22 euro)... On top of that they are releasing so much cr*p on the market that there is no incentive to buy a whole CD when you can better download that one track that you like. There is a new artist every week which is replaced by another the following week, and so it goes. I'm not saying there is a lack of good music, it's just that the majority of record sales is no longer about good music but only about making money by targeting children (which do not have the experience to know what is good music) through "teen lifestyle artists"... That's why people start downloading music - who wants to buy CDs that are rubbish the next week?

The record companies have some nerve telling me that I cannot copy my own CD which I bought for my own money!!!! That is not the way of doing business, that is just pure greed, and if we as consumers give up the fight that will be the end of our moral society as we know it.

[dcbell]

I'm having problems ripping UNKLE's 'Never, Never Land'.

Tried masking the outer data track with both post it notes and white-board marker pens. I also use EAC which has been previously posted as recognising the data track and can thus be bypassed. However, none of this has worked.

Other than using a Mac to rip, any other ideas? Use CloneCD and then rip from the copied CD?

Annoying, since there are no stickers/labels/symbols indicating copy protection. Corporate *****.

[Bob]

dcbell,
If all other methods have failed then it may be a case of cloning the CD.

With regards to CP - my limited knowledge leads me to believe that the record companies can only go so far with copy protection. These CD's have to be able to play on a CD player. Otherwise they are as much use as a chocolate fireguard.
There are already instances of some CD players not being able to read CPCD's - some in-car players will not read them and my wife's Sony Walkman will not read the Kings Of Leon CD - it just clicks away.
They are going to try their utmost best to foil the MP3 user, but they cannot take it so far that the CPCD is just a shiny coaster. Unplayable on any machine.
They may eventually find a way of thwarting us 'legitimate' iPod owners who either buy the CD then rip it or pay for the downloads via the likes of iTMS. But someone will then come out with an device to allow you to rip from a CD player to your computer.
I hope the reord industry does wake and realise they would be far better directing their energies in a more consumer friendly direction.

[dcbell]

Cheers, MadPict. Looks like cloning is the way to go. Utterly frustrating (not the first words that came to mind, but for polite society and younger/sensitive viewers, i'll compromise), particularly when these are legitimate rqeuirements of fully paid-up purchases.

[Bob]

Or, find a friend with a Mac and see if it'll rip on that?

[ToddW]

Originally posted by SlutMonkey
Thanks for all the tips... I recently bought the Stokes' latest album Room On Fire (a great album btw), which I wanted to rip onto my iPod. I noticed that the CD did not work at all on my PC (a new Wintel laptop), it just made "clicking" noises so I followed some tips and did the following:

1. Cut small pieces of tape.
2. Stuck them to the 'copyright' track of the CD. (see pic below)
3. Inserted the CD in my computer
4. After some seconds of spinning the CD is now recognised as an "audio CD" rather than a "data CD"
5. Start iTunes (you can of course use any program you like)
6. Rip as Mp3

The Strokes album has the BMG copyright protection system.

That's odd I have had no probs ripping my CDs even DRMd ones. iTunes ripped my storkes CD perfectly!

[Cruzn15]

I just bought the new Blink-182 CD and when I clicked to Import it, my CD drive is making the start-up sound, then it slows. It's doing that constantly. According to iTunes, the thing is importing at 0.1x from the CD. I've been importing for a few hours, and it's not even half down; this is ridiculous. I could do a twenty-song CD yesterday in less than a half-hour.

It is my belief that the RIAA has included something in their newer music CDs, which makes it almost impossible to play, import or copy (to another disc) the CD using a PC. This is totally assinine.

I already blew the $10, so I guess I'll wait another few hours for my Import to finish, then I'll vow never to buy a CD again; it's iTunes all the way for me from hereon out.

[styles]

I didn't have any probs ripping/importing the new blink 182 CD...I have had similar problems with other CD's though...specifically one from like '96, so I doubt it has any type of copy protection on it.

[Jackonicko]

There is a sticky about copy protected CDs in the music section. I suggest that this should have been posted there.

[billysardar]

This used to happen on my old PC. If you are using windows, try using EAC to rip the CD (www.exactaudiocopy.de/)

[Bob]

This sounds very much like a copy protected disc. The drive sounds like it is constantly looking for data when I get this problem.
Take the CD back to where you bought it and demand your money back - tell them it refuses to play on your CD Player and if it has got CP tell them it's not a music CD (does not conform the Red Book standards)

[Cruzn15]

After reading this thread, I feel like an idiot. It seems that I let it Import for 6+ hours for nothing, because when I decided to try it in my CD-RW drive (I was doing it in my regular, faster CD drive), it had no problems. At least now I know that if a CD doesn't work in my CD drive, I should try it in my CD-RW.

[Jackonicko]

Well, we're here to help!

Maybe someone should write it up for the FAQs?

[matto]

I have recently had trouble getting Cd's i have purchased onto my IPOD.
Most CD's these days have copy protection, to get round this try holding down the shift key when inserting the disc.
You should then be able to import the songs as normal.

[dave_b9000]

i got the new electric soft parade album and was halfway through ripping it in itunes on my slot loading imac before realising it has a bit on the back saying it's copy protected and won't play on a mac!

had no problems with it:) (maybe they hadn't banked on OSX)

[matto]

did it import the whole song?, i've tried this and it looked like itunes was coping the full track, but on playin em , it only gave me 10 seconds snips of each song.

[Aqib_Ishtiaq]

I am in the process of putting all my CDs onto my ipod, but when I try to put the new Chili Peppers album (Greatest Hits) and The Chemical Brothers Greatest Hits, both of which are copy protected, they never work, anyone got any ideas on what to do?

[Bob]

As there is a thread on the subject of copy protected CD's here, I am moving this into it.

[SlutMonkey]

Originally posted by Aqib_Ishtiaq
I am in the process of putting all my CDs onto my ipod, but when I try to put the new Chili Peppers album (Greatest Hits) and The Chemical Brothers Greatest Hits, both of which are copy protected, they never work, anyone got any ideas on what to do?

If you check previous posts of the forum, you'll know what to do.

= put some masking tape on the "copy control track" of the CD and then rip it as you normally would. (see previous posts for instructions)

Happy listnening!

[ginalee]

I've found a CD that doesn't even play on a mac, much less rip.

Lauryn Hill's Unplugged (no I didn't buy it, I got it as a gift) It really does say - nor readable on a pc or mac on the cover.

So it's too much for my iBook SE466 :(

Guess it's tape time...

[Jackonicko]

Is that a challenge?

When you've taped it, send it to me - I've yet to find a CD that my iBook 900 won't rip!

[ginalee]

I was hoping you'd say that! :)

It's a real mystery to me - tried also to copy it to Toast - no go... Upon inserting, the tracks get listed thanks to the CDDB and when you click on the first song the play icon floats over it for a second then goes on to the next one. Strange.

[Jackonicko]

Pleasure - I've started to see these thangs as a challenge. Bought Imbruglia's White Lillies Island (famously unrippable) from the Cancer Research shop last week just to try ripping it.

What a surprise! It ripped painlessly!

I'll PM you my snail mail address if you want me to rip it for you and send it back with a clean (rippable) CD-R.

Quite a lot of CDs rip fine on the iBook 900 which won't rip on an iBook 500 or the iMac DVSE........

[Miguello]

Has anyone else had a problem importing, or even playing this disc on I-tunes? I was importing discs, to update the Ipod, and this disc totally screwed my computer up?? It slowed it down to a crawl, spinning beach ball, delayed menus to about a minute after trying to open the pulldowns, etc etc.... Generally made it almost seem like a complete freeze up. I held the eject(F-12) button down for 3 minutes, and it finally caught up and ejected. After the disc was out, all problems were gone completely, back to normal?? I'm wondering if they may have put some type of anti copy software on this disc? Only thing I can think of that would explain it? Weird weird!!:confused: Any thoughts??


I-tunes 4.2, 700mhz white Ibook (dual usb) If this helps anything?

[Bob]

Copy Protected/Buggy according to Fat Chuck (http://www.fatchucks.com/z3.cd.html)

[Miguello]

Well, crap!! The only disc I have that is copy protected.
What if all discs were this way? Pay $500 for a 40GB Ipod, only to spend 10,000 bucks filling it at the I-tunes store?? What a joke.

Does anyone make a one disc CD wallet, LMAO!

[Bob]

Suspect Your CD Is Corrupt?

Useful listing of corrupt CD's can be found at The Campaign for Digital Rights (http://ukcdr.org/issues/cd/bad/) Known Bad CD's page for those of you in Europe.

Fat Chuck also has a list of Bad CD's (http://www.fatchucks.com/z3.cd.html)

[ginalee]

That is a long list! What a surprise - Lauryn Hill Unplugged 2 is on it...

Will post the cds tomorrow, jn.

[Miguello]

Songs for the deaf is listed on Fat Chuck. I visited qotsa's website, and it would not let me register for the forums? And of course no contact link. Guess they got a lot of complaints, huh? hehe.,,,,MG

[Bob]

Originally posted by Miguello
I visited qotsa's website, and it would not let me register for the forums?

Best pack your bags now - the FBI Music Piracy Task Force could well be on their way to seize your CD's, computer and underwear as I type this. Look out for any Cable Co. vans with blacked out windows!! :D

[Miguello]

Oh, so you HAVE heard of me? LOL! I love that movie, hehe.....,,,,MG

[Miguello]

Sorry, pirate joke....................

[Hor5e]

Had to have a go at Kings of Leon, ripped fine on XP pro, Just got my hands on my iPod at xmas (went halfs on it with G/F, but she said i had to wait untill xmas for it).
got 3284 songs on it already

[kate_0]

as mentioned before, hold down shift as the cds are being inserted into your computer. this should disable some mechanism (I don't really understand it) but it ends up being rippable. I did this for the red hot chili peppers 'greatest hits'. and boy did I feel good :)

[Miguello]

Cool, I'll try that on QOTSA.

[trunkguy]

I have recently purchased three albums with this protected system...

Pet Shop Boys "Pop Art" - not veiwable by my PC but Sony Sonic Stage can rip it.

Kelis "Tasty" - not viewable by my pc

Zero 7 "When It Falls" - disc not recognised by my PC.

Can I get around this? All I want to do is listen to music I bought on my iPod!

[Bob]

Have you tried holding the shift key down as you insert the CD? You can then 'explore' the contents to find the audio tracks.

[///M]

I might have missed this but what software do u actually use to rip the cds apart from (itunes)

[madnick]

"So the question is, do the CD protection bods ignore us Mac users because we're a) numerically insignificant and b) not the type of chap to steal music, or is the CD protection on this particular CD just not very good?", Jackonicko

I have a G4 mac with the first Superdrive and these CDs (Copy Control) will not read on it. If i am lucky I may end up with a few tracks, but more often than not I have no playable ones at all. From experience, I put this down to the age of the drive. Newer drives have firmware/hardware that copes better with this CD scrambling. There is nothing between the PC and mac users, both may have similar problems.

My newer 48x CD writer in my PC rips and plays back these CDs with no problem. This must be because it is newer hardware and the manufacturers have accounted for these new CDs.

I am 100% in favour of copy protecting music. It is the only way to stop people illegally distributing the work of others. It is clear in the digital age that many people (not all) do not care about the implications of their actions. Some people seem to think this is only 'music' or that the artists/record companies earn enough already. Although in some cases there may be truth in this, it is still wrong. In most cases a lot of work and thought goes into music creation (thought spared from acts like 'Liberty X' and other pop-idol type cash ins). Pirating music is simply like going down your local spa and thieving goods under the excuse that the chain can afford it. What gives any individual the right to spread someones hard work without the consent of the owner? The royalties sent to the authors for albums and singles are pretty feeble, seing as over 90% goes to the record companies, the rest is split between the artist/s and things like the packaging of the media etc. Hence buying one CD gives no rights to mass distribution.

Basically I think that copy protection is the only way to try and prevent the mass exploitation of digital media. However in the process, things need to be addressed. Those of us who actually go out and pay for our music should be able to use it as we please (within reason). One big thing which is overlooked is those of us which cannot play these CDs on our computers. There are supplied players, but these are not of a high enough standard. I do not go out and buy CDs to put up with shoddy playback on a computer which glitches and is sourced from pathetic quality MP3s -(for an example listen to the files on 'Royksopp - Melody A.M.' which has media files of an insulting quality contained on the disk). The industry needs to find a way of preventing the piracy, but which at the same time does not hinder the consumer in any other way.

[Bob]

madnick,
My opposition to copy protection is solely the fact that I do pay for my music and as such would like to play it on whatever player I choose. Most CD's I have bought with CP have ripped OK on my 2year old iBook. One or two refuse. Kings Of Leon is one example of a CD which I managed to rip all but one track. But when played on my wifes Sony Walkman it skipped and jumped which made it unlistenable.
I have heard of other players refusing to play CP CD's and the technology is obviously not good enough to give 100% perfect playback on 100% of audio players.
It is said that Sony and Philips refuse to recognise these discs as they do not comply with the Red Book which set out the standards for audio compact discs.
I think the CD buying public should also refuse to buy these CD's until the record industry realises it is the wrong way to stop the illegal downloaders.

[Jackonicko]

I'm still in the happy position of having found only one CD (Lauryn Hill Unplugged 2.0) which hasn't ripped on my 900 MHz, G3 iBook. It hasn't ripped with stickers over the CP track, with the CP track painted black, with shift keys held down and is now with the fourth separate friend who is attempting to rip it). The usual 'unrippables' (Kings of Leon, the Darkness, Natalie Imbruglia, QotSA, Pop Art) have all ripped without difficulty.

[BenGlanz]

My RHCP GHs cd is friggin copy protected and has an imbedded music player (which sucks @ss), if you get what i mean. How am I gonna rip this CD to my comp so i can but it on my iPod. Man I hate CD companies so flipping much. I bought this CD fair and square paid full price and then they make it so i cant bl00dy listen to it! Surley this will just encourgae the use of illegal d'loading. Stupid no knowladge of music big wig F***ERS!

Any help at all will be greatly appreciated,

cheers,

~Ben

[Vicsun]

use p2p to download the music you have bought and hope the IRAA doesn't sue you :rolleyes:

[divad6719]

As you put the CD into your drive, press and hold the Shift key. This stops the embedded player from autorunning and sometimes allows you to then rip the tracks.

Also, you could have more success using an older CD-ROM drive (if you have that available) or a by using the CD writer drive.

[nsyncsuck]

Is there any way of ripping tracks on copy protected cd's on a mac cause its bloody annoying not being able to listen to cd's that are copy protected

[kloan]

Originally posted by BenGlanz
My RHCP GHs cd is friggin copy protected and has an imbedded music player (which sucks @ss), if you get what i mean. How am I gonna rip this CD to my comp so i can but it on my iPod. Man I hate CD companies so flipping much. I bought this CD fair and square paid full price and then they make it so i cant bl00dy listen to it! Surley this will just encourgae the use of illegal d'loading. Stupid no knowladge of music big wig F***ERS!

Any help at all will be greatly appreciated,

cheers,

~Ben
Use Easy CD-DA Extractor, download it here (http://www.poikosoft.com/)

[Teqnilogik]

He said he wanted a solution on the Mac platform. Easy CD-DA Extractor is for Windows. I'm a PC user so I don't have any solutions for you. If you have a PC I would recommend trying to find some software and rip it on the PC. Easy CD-DA Extractor might work. Or maybe even Exact Audio Copy.

I live in the U.S. so I haven't had to deal with copy protected CDs thankfully. I buy my music and if they ever tried to pull that crap over here I would simply boycott any record label implementing copy protection. I'm sure I wouldn't be alone. Copy protection just won't work on audio CDs in the U.S. market. The consumers wouldn't stand for it. If anything the record companies in the U.S. will push for a new copy protected format like DVD-Audio to become popular.

I wish you the best of luck finding a solution!

[homicat]

Originally posted by Teqnilogik
He said he wanted a solution on the Mac platform. Easy CD-DA Extractor is for Windows. I'm a PC user so I don't have any solutions for you. If you have a PC I would recommend trying to find some software and rip it on the PC. Easy CD-DA Extractor might work. Or maybe even Exact Audio Copy.

I live in the U.S. so I haven't had to deal with copy protected CDs thankfully. I buy my music and if they ever tried to pull that crap over here I would simply boycott any record label implementing copy protection. I'm sure I wouldn't be alone. Copy protection just won't work on audio CDs in the U.S. market. The consumers wouldn't stand for it. If anything the record companies in the U.S. will push for a new copy protected format like DVD-Audio to become popular.

I wish you the best of luck finding a solution!

Wow. Don't consumer based societies rock?
:D

[Jackonicko]

God forbid that you should do a search.....

http://www.ipodlounge.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4032

[rlucas]

Originally posted by Jackonicko
God forbid that you should do a search.....

http://www.ipodlounge.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4032
Now, why would anyone do that? :confused: :rolleyes:

:P

[alpharuin]

God Forbid = \m/

[Ezra4no1]

Originally posted by Vicsun
use p2p to download the music you have bought and hope the IRAA doesn't sue you :rolleyes:


It's not illegal to DOWNLOAD MP3s.... When will people understand this.


On the other hand... It is illegal to UPLOAD music or SHARE it!..

So just make sure you are not sharing your music...

If you pay attention to any of the lawsuits from record lables it's because they "shared" the music why they were in trouble, not because they downloaded it.

[kloan]

He said he wanted a solution on the Mac platform.
No, he didn't. That was the post directly above me, not the original thread starter.

[fadedlight]

It's not illegal to DOWNLOAD MP3s
If you are talking about pirated music in MP3 format, then YES it is illegal. Although this varies from country to country.

[Teqnilogik]

Originally posted by kloan
No, he didn't. That was the post directly above me, not the original thread starter.

Oops sorry, my bad.

[Mr94Supra]

Ok, now i'm upset.... I just bought a new cd and some BMG license agreement window pops up. If I select I do no agree the cd gets ejected from my pc. Either way WMP9 OR iTunes both can and have copied the cd while this window is up but playback is choppy as if it were a scratched cd. I even accepted the dang agreement and I still can't copy the cd. Guess its going back tomorrow. I've heard of the protected cds before but this just sux arse!!:mad:

For those who wish to know it is a rap cd, Jkwon Hood Hop. Now that I see it there is a sticker that says its protected against unathorized duplication but against me downloading it to me OWN pc?

[Dropkick715]

Well you could download a program called All Sound Recorder, and record each track while its playing off your computer. Might take some extra time but its just one solution.

[doctorjuggles]

Try holding down SHIFT when you insert the CD into your player.

[iBookiPod]

As I don't enjoy Lauren Hil's music, it's a good thing my iBook won't read it. :D

[MetalMike]

The marker trick works on most cd's

[oldiedaman]

I borrowed red hot chili peppers greatest hits from my mate
when i played it in my pc it came up with a self install program that just played the songs. there were no actuall music files or anything. is this a new copy protection thing or can it still be copied?

[chibimiffy]

I have the Red Hot Chili Peppers Greatest Hits on my iTunes. I put it in, and it ripped perfectly...

I have Windowz XP...

To be honest i havent had any problems at all with copy protection when it comes to iTunes.

[maceo333]

j-kwon cd, I taped it and the computer reads it as an audio file but the tracks still skip every so seconds, how do I get around that???
win xp/ i tunes

[jlofty9]

Why don't you just download the album. You have already bought it so thus have paid the royalties.

Out of interest what country did you buy this copy protected CD in I've not seen them in the UK i dont think my darkness album (cracking) was copy protected!

[cranium]

I have some albums that I want to put on my ipod, which are copy controlled.
I have been trying to rip them properlly for a while now. I managed to get my hands on a program called CD EX, which does rip all the album, except the first track.
This is pretty frustrating, as I want it all on there. Does anyone know how to do this?

[AndyH]

Originally posted by cranium
I have some albums that I want to put on my ipod, which are copy controlled.
I have been trying to rip them properlly for a while now. I managed to get my hands on a program called CD EX, which does rip all the album, except the first track.
This is pretty frustrating, as I want it all on there. Does anyone know how to do this?
This message thread might help:
'Copy protected' - don't always believe the label (http://www.ipodlounge.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=4032)

[phdutton]

Depends on the copy protection, some are easy to get round, others not so.

[dare-t7f]

Originally posted by cranium
I have some albums that I want to put on my ipod, which are copy controlled.
I have been trying to rip them properlly for a while now. I managed to get my hands on a program called CD EX, which does rip all the album, except the first track.
This is pretty frustrating, as I want it all on there. Does anyone know how to do this?

I normally use Easy CD Extractor : http://www.poikosoft.com/

works like a charm.

[NiTRO]

On Amazon.com, I read a number of reviews of Contraband, Velvet Revolver's new album that vented frustration over the copy protection that BMG infused in this album & ripping it to iPod.

I held the 'Shift' key when I inserted and loaded the Cd. This was successful in disabling autoplay/embedded player which initializes this type of copy protection.

It worked perfectly for me and I ripped away and dumped to iPod! This copy protection is just a big F-you to consumers like us who buy the album and just want to make it portable. Way to go BMG! It's no surprise that the record industry is rupturing money at the seams. I wonder how much they spent on shoddy copy protection technology such as this. Time to drop it altogether.

FYI: The album is great! Not digging the production though, too heavy on the low-mids so all the instruments struggle for breathing room. Great unapologetic rock album overall!

[ajbryan59]

Hi
I have the following (so called) CDs which I am unable to copy into iTunes:
Alicia Keys : The Diary of Alicia Keys
Faithless : No Roots

So far I have tried holding the sfift key down as some forum members have suggested, with no luck.
I have iTunes loaded on a Sony Viao laptop with Windows XP.

Can anyone help?
Andrew

[Jackonicko]

If nothing works I'll try and do it for you, but try everything else first.

[domin8or]

There was no way I could get Joss Stone into my iPod but I managed to find a ripped version on the net.
While I am against the illegal copying of CD?s I am forced to download illegal rips just for this reason. If this tendency increases then at some point portable music players are going to become obsolete unless the pirates keep up the ?good work? :-(

[RockSTaR]

Well, for some reason my PC doesn't like this CD. I read all about the copy protection and how to bypass, but even after bypassing the software install on the disc and being sure that driver wasn't loading on my system, I still get garbeled encoded files! I've tried to correct this to no avail. If anyone else has ripped this CD successfully, and would be willing to help me "obtain" these tracks please PM me. It would be much appreciated. I'm wanting this CD ripped with iTunes at 160 kbps AAC format. As I've stated previously, I FINALLY own this disc (got it on sale!), so I have the right to have these songs on my iPod. Thanks in advance to anyone that can help me out. I'd rather not download the album off P2P. I like AAC format, and like to know my encodes are good since I rip them all myself. Damn copyright protection! I've already sent an e-mail complaining to BMG. I'm sure that will help! ;)

[RockSTaR]

Does nobody even have any suggestions for me?

[Bob]

See 'Nitros' post just above ^

[40gbiPodMike]

Hi guys just wondering if you can help me on this one.

Iv got a few CDs which are copy protected and when i put them in to the computer they dont show up at all in iTunes.

The 2 cds are

The Thrills - So Much For The City
and
Avril Lavigne - Let Go.

They load up all the computer extras the CD contains but they dont work in iTunes. Iv tried them in Windows Media Player aswell and it just shows all the tracks durations as 10 seconds long.

Now i buy CDs to put on my iPod which however silly it is thats what i do. If the CD doesnt work with my iPod then it wont get listened to.

What is the point in copy protecting CDs! Surely once youv bought the CD you should be able to do what you want with it. Anyway thats another story.

Does anybody know how i could get these copy protected CDs on to my iPod?

PS Iv tried the Shift method.

[Bob]

Have you tried any of the other methods metioned in this thread - masking tape, marker pen etc - and you are unable to 'explore' the contents of the disc when you load it with the Shift key held down?

[scorpia]

I don't know why the record companies put this stupid protection on CD's. It's like they expect us to not try to find a way around it. If they can put it on, someone can take it off!

great tip about the tape though. I borrowed a friends CD to rip and I just did the edge and it worked.

i wish there was a place that rented CD's. we could rip them and return them. but i'm sure they know that and that's why they don't rent them. but, that's what friends are for.

also, if ripping CD's is "against the law", why not just download them free, that's "illegal" too. they'll still hate that you do it.

[40gbiPodMike]

I tried exploring the CD with the shift button held down but it just shows the embedded player and its files so none of the actual tracks on the CD. I dont have any tape to try so ill have to try the marker pen. Do you just mark round the line?

[Jackonicko]

Was 'Let Go' the first Avril CD? If so I can rip 'em for you. Send me a couple of blank CDs, the postage (60 p per CD, 45 p per jiffy bag) and proof that you own them and I'll send you CD-Rs with fully playable copies. Or I could rip them as 192 MP3s. PM me if that helps.

[Bob]

Velvet Revolver ruined iTunes! (http://ipodlounge.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=36664)
This thread mentions problems with iTunes after the Velvet Revolver CD was loaded - it may be relevant to the problems mentioned previously in this thread...

[40gbiPodMike]

Iv tried the above madpict and all other solutions and nothing works. Iv got 4 CDs now that i rightfully own and have paid for but i cant play any of them on my iPod!!

[Jackonicko]

I've suggested a cheap easy solution to you. The other is to buy a new iBook!

[baggss]

Will the Avril CD even PLAY on the PC? I mean can you play it with Win Media player or WinAmp or some such, or will it not play at all?

[ipodpilot]

I find in ironic that ALL the posts in the last 12 pages are of ligitimate music buyers that are having trouble getting their music on an ipod. As the owner of about 3000 cd's with alot of them on my mac, I wonder when I will have to stop buying cd's and just start downloading. I like to have the hard copy of the cd as a collection as well as on my ipods.

[Jette]

We MUST stand together and not BUY the copy protected CDs These hurt the honest people: people who BUY the CD to put on their iPod. This will drive me to download instead if this madness spreads.

[ThoughtRiot]

I have never had a problem ripping a heap of copy protected CDs. Including Velvet Revolver, The Beastie Boys, Ben Harper, Jet etc. etc.

I use CDex, a small CD ripping program I got off www.downloads.com
A few of my friends have had problems with the latest version (PC keeps crashing) but if you find an older version, you won't have any problems.

[funnyperson1]

If you want to but a cd buy it off Itunes or some other music service show the RIAA that downloaders are a large part of the legal music purchasing community.

Imho its bs that you can't use music you own on your Ipod, it only encourages piracy.

[AJames]

So far there are only a few methods of "copy protecting" (read "corrupting") music "CD"s (not actually allowed to be called CDs since they don't conform to the standard of the trademarked CD designation):

1. Adding an extra session to the end of the CD which is deliberately corrupted. Most CDROM drives by default skip to the last session index and therefore read the corrupted data, while most music players read the first session on the disc and ignore any extra sessions. Fails in some music players, especially late-model car CD players. Easily overridden by software, or by the simple technique of putting a bit of tape or whiteout on the outer edge of the disc to prevent the extra data session from being read.

2. Adding a data session with an invisible copy-protection program which Autoruns when the CD is loaded in a CDROM drive. Doesn't work on Macs or Linux. Easily overridden on PCs by disabling Autorun or by holding down the Shift key while loading the CD to temporarily prevent Autorun. Fails in some music players.

3. Introducing deliberate data errors into the digital music data which cause normal CDROM data reading routines to stumble. Music players are designed to skip errors with minimal audible effects. Easily bypassed by ripping software which can be set to ignore errors. Really negative for the consumer because it reduces the quality of the music and the potential life of the disc as it accumulates real-world scratches.

Personally I wouldn't buy any "CD" which uses any of these techniques, and I urge everyone else to reject them too. Watch for those tiny "Copy Protected" stickers, or the absence of a "CD" logo. If you inadverently get such a disc, many retail stores will let you return it, and some record companies have been known to ship a real CD to consumers who complain.

[Bob]

The Blue Nile - High CD

Just got this the other day as a gift and found to my obvious annoyance that it will not play on my iBook and also locks my iBook up (CD just 'hunts' for a readable track)

There is no marking on the disc, case or inlay that this is Copy Protected. I did a quick search and forund on the AV forums a thread about this very CD -

Can I suggest you contact Sanctuary Records. Here's what happened (I spoke to their Head of Marketing). They accidentally used the promo master for the release proper, hence the unintended copy-protection and lack of warnings on the packaging. They are running a repress to provide non-protected discs to those who contact them and are sending me one free-of-charge, and haven't asked for the original disc back.

A follow-up -
Just had this email from Sanctuary:

Unfortunately this was a mistake by the manufacturers and we are working flat
out to replace all remaining stock with new un-protected product. We quite
often copy-protect promotional stock to safe guard illegal downloading but the
manufacturer should then swop masters before the commercial release is
manufactured. We would never intentionally copy protect commercial stock for
the very reasons you have highlighted.

All I can offer is our apologies and ask for your patience as we will be
sending new protection-free cd's to anyone who has suffered a similar problem
so please let me have your address and I'll send one to you today.

Needless to say I have just sent an email to Santuary Records about this duff CD i was bought!!!

Result!!

Unfortunately there has been a mix up with this title, and the wrong master was used for the release.

If you send us either your protected disc, or proof of purchase, we will be able to send you a non-protected version of the CD.

Sales Support
Sanctuary House
45-53 Sinclair Rd
London
W14 0NS

Kind regards,
Stephen White

[chocolatelolly]

it's really strange but my new laptop rips Copy Protected cds fine! My laptop is a Sony Vaio PCG-K74 and I only got it about two months ago. On my PC I had to use Audiograbber to get the tracks, but on my laptop I have no problems at all and the CP cds show up in iTunes and rip as soon as I press the "import" button! I find it strange but wonderful :D

[swy32x]

Talib Kweli's album had that problem on my laptop, but then when inserting it into the home PC, I held in shift, preventing auto run, and it worked fine. I think you need to get a 'virgin pc', meaning it has not had any exposure to the disc yet

[Timo]

Seems to be a lot of these Copy Protected "music discs" in New Zealand. In general they either rip fine or I disable 1st track(using iTunes here) and rip the others...then go back and rip track 1. Think I had one that wouldn't rip on my iMac but worked fine on my iBook.
The only Cd to bean me is pink floyds Echoes. No luck with this. Yet. It screws up the Finder and I need to restart it.

[Vikram]

The CDs that have their own stupid player, and wont let you use any other player on the computer. Worse still, the CD isnt even recognised by iTunes when you insert it. How do you rip such songs?

[stinkiedmb]

what CD is this that only allow playback with its own player?

im sure if you haulted the autorun of the CD you could get around it and allow iTunes to rip it.

[enjoilax]

Originally posted by Vikram
The CDs that have their own stupid player, and wont let you use any other player on the computer. Worse still, the CD isnt even recognised by iTunes when you insert it. How do you rip such songs?

Have you tried other programs like EAC\LAME?

Next time you inser the disc hold down shift until it appears in iTunes.

Anything longer than 2 mins though and it probably won't work.

I've never had a problem using EAC\LAME.

[screw]

i have one CD which is like that. Its the soundtrack for Fast and Furious... apparently i don't seem to be able to play the dics in my computer... Only works in regular CD players :(

[HEWSINATOR]

Well that is the problem, iTunes will not play music off the soundtracks for ####ty music. It is a built in filter to disuade purchasing the such.

j/k It is late.

[MartyMcPod]

Hewsinator, I heard of that too. My gf bought a Yanni CD, and iTunes wouldn't play it...

[MOCKBA]

Connect CD digital out to your sound card digital in.

[Vikram]

Originally posted by stinkiedmb
what CD is this that only allow playback with its own player?

im sure if you haulted the autorun of the CD you could get around it and allow iTunes to rip it.

Thanks for that!! Must try!

The CDs I'm talking about, one example is the new Duran Duran "Astronaut"album.

What is EAC/LAME btw?

[Futzy]

The copy protection used by EMI is absolutely feeble.

I'm not going to explain how to get around it, because that would just be wrong. But... you should be able to rip your cd's using any number of "off the net" applications.

(In Canada the copywrite agreement is such that is not illegal to make copies of CD's you own. We pay a levy on recordable media to offset some of the revenue lost by people who don't actually purchase their music).

[enjoilax]

Originally posted by Vikram
Thanks for that!! Must try!

The CDs I'm talking about, one example is the new Duran Duran "Astronaut"album.

What is EAC/LAME btw?

Its Exact Audio Copy and LAME which stands for: "Lame Ain't a Mp3 Encoder" Oh but it is!

I suggest: www.bestmp3guide.com if you are going to switch.

[jtorchy]

Does anyone have velvet revolver's album contraband? I had had this problem a couple of times before, but I think their music lable put some software that was to counter piracy. I'm all down with that, but when I can't rip my music into the format I want, then that is what is ####ing me off. The software lets you rip your music into microsoft's codec, and no surprise here, I can't put the music into my ipod.

Does anyone know how to counter this? I didn't install the software on to my notebook or desktop, but I don't remeber how I was able to rip my music without it being all messed up.

[uber tax payer]

Go here http://weblogs.asp.net/christoc/archive/2004/06/08/151147.aspx and follow the instructions.

[Bob]

jtorchy,
Have a read through this thread for some tips...

[btlaxripper]

I've never come across a copy protected CD. Is this just a UK thing?

[eeeeeekkkk]

ive never had any problems with ripping cp cds

could it be that i use a rw drive?

eeeeeekkkk

[btlaxripper]

yeah I have a RW drive also. And none of my CDs say copy protected.

All they have now is and FBI piracy warning saying that piracy is illegal. It's just a sticker on the back.

[Lady21]

I was able to install both Hail to the Thief and America's Sweetheart (Courtney Love) both CP with no problems. However, they both sounded like they were trying to destroy my hard drive.

Maybe this isn't much of a problem though because Enhanced CDs made the same noise.

[Jenesis]

The other night I had no luck ripping To The 5 Boroughs due to its Copy Potection. I'm no Kevin Mitnick, but I thought as a last resort I'd try an analog rip with MusicMatch. Though it ripped in real time :eek: , it worked like a charm. My ears didn't notice any difference in sound quality either, so I was one happy camper.

This method also worked on two other CP CDs that wouldn't previously rip.

[when 4ever ends]

i brought the academy is... cd yesterday and had no problems ripping it. its the first cd ive actually spent money on in like a year and after reading this thread, im glad i have been using a p2p server.

RIAA= @$$holes

[minglewood]

Originally posted by jtorchy
Does anyone have velvet revolver's album contraband? I had had this problem a couple of times before, but I think their music lable put some software that was to counter piracy. I'm all down with that, but when I can't rip my music into the format I want, then that is what is ####ing me off. The software lets you rip your music into microsoft's codec, and no surprise here, I can't put the music into my ipod.

Does anyone know how to counter this? I didn't install the software on to my notebook or desktop, but I don't remeber how I was able to rip my music without it being all messed up.

i was able to get contraband onto my ipod but it skipped when i tried to play it. but it played fine through itunes.
deleted it from my ipod and haven't messed with it anymore.

[Freddie Mercury]

"
i was able to get contraband onto my ipod but it skipped when i tried to play it. but it played fine through itunes.
deleted it from my ipod and haven't messed with it anymore."
I also own that CD and I hav ripped it and it will only skip, does anyone else know. I thought it was just my computer.

[Joshdude]

My Hail to the Thief ripped fine, and plays fine. I would be severely ####ed off if Radiohead would not play on my computer/iPod.
Tp the 5 Boroughs ripped fine as well.

[ZooStation]

Hmm.. .me wonders what Sony Music will do with their CD copy protection when Sony Electronics comes out with a decent MP3 player.??

[ZooStation]

I've only had problems `playing' and `ripping' two CDS onto my PC (windows 2000), the latest albums from The Cure and The Tea Party. As i'm at work and don't have them with me, I don't know what record label they are on. So as a consequence they don't get listened to. Ironically, they also don't play in my old CD player either (car/Home theatre no probs).. but mightily frustrating none the less.

I believe that here in Australia, according to the letter of the law (Copyright Act) it is actually illegal to copy anything in it's entirety. This means that if you make a back up you are breaking the law and have illegal content. This technically means that you have illegal songs if you rip them into Itunes. So the record companies have the right to protect their cd's... but it's stupid and wrong. So now I first look at online music stores (to buy), unfortunately not ITunes store.. because we don't have that here, before buying the actual CD.

[ZooStation]

Ok I've been looking on the internet at this. It appears that Sony is developing some kind of licensing system for copy protected CD's in which you have to authenticate it over the internet before you can copy it. The copies you can make are only playable on authorised portable music players (and only if you are running a Windows PC). Imagine if all companies (electronic and music) went down this path, you'd have to choose which cd's you buy wisely.

Imagine if your favourite artist released a cd through a record company that only allowed it to be played through a windows based PC and on a creative Zen.

Now that would be something interesting.. what would that do to record sales

[SoundChaser]

i'm so glad im only into old music.. if what ZooStation just said actually gets developed, thatll really suck for top-40 music fans... not that i think im holier than thou because im only into music from 1985 and back (in general, there are exceptions) but it is nice

[SoundChaser]

i'm so glad im only into old music.. if what ZooStation just said actually gets developed, thatll really suck for top-40 music fans... not that i think im holier than thou because im only into music from 1985 and back (in general, there are exceptions) but it is nice

[SoundChaser]

i'm so glad im only into old music.. if what ZooStation just said actually gets developed, thatll really suck for top-40 music fans... not that i think im holier than thou because im only into music from 1985 and back (in general, there are exceptions) but it is nice

[SoundChaser]

sorry about that double post!
sorry about that double post!

[ZooStation]

no probs SoundChaser... Yeah I'm into older music as well...let's just hope it never happens

[kay.eye.emm]

I bought one of the EMI copy control CDs today. I only realized it after I got home and ripped off the cellophane :rolleyes: But I learned my lesson. I'll definitely be more careful about looking for copy protection labels in the future and I won't buy any of those CDs. I sent an email to EMI Canada telling them that. I know they probably don't care, but regardless, you have to make your voice heard!

Anyway, I've read all problems on this thread about the copy protected CDs and figured I might as well try and rip it with iTunes. If it didn't work then I planned on taking it back to the store and arguing for a refund. So I disabled Autoplay on my PC, and held the Shift key just in case, and voila! iTunes looked it up in the Gracenote database and I had no problems encoding it to AAC! No skipping on the tracks at all.

I'm using an older Sony CD-RW to rip the CD, so I wonder if that has anything to do with it. Is this copy protection thing a joke or did I just happen to luck out?

[ZooStation]

yeah I've had a couple of problems. My CD reader didn't even read one of them (Windows 2000), but a new XP computer did, but it failed to rip track 1 into ITunes.

EMI are definately the worst. However, I have bought a couple of others that had no labelling at all. I'd rather download the album from legitimate download sites than buy a copy protected disk.

[ModernARTillery]

Yeah... I purchased Velvet Revolver's Contraband a couple of months ago. Well, it came with that sticker, and it would not let me burn it. But then, i just ripped the files onto my computer, and it worked fine.

[archurban]

I don't have the problem. on mac platform, it doesn't matter whatever it is protected CD because most case, it is matter with windows system. so protected technology does not apply for mac os x at all. I have few protected CDs. they all ripped off, show all information on them.

[venice~queen]

Do you guys know what i bought a new album the other day and it is copy protected...it is a sony cd and won't play on my laptop unless I download their player...even then I can't get it into itunes. So what did I do...I asked around some friends and found that someone had illegally ripped said album off the internet, borrowed that...worked fine...ripped it into itunes and then onto my ipod. So I can only assume that other people are doing the same either borrowing illegal cds or illegally downloading themselves! The music companies are not doing themselves any favours! This is sad as I have never had illegal musci before...like alot of other people on this thread I buy all of my music! Rant Over!!!

[JAEwalk]

when a cd is copy protected what i do is to rip it using windows media player (wma format) and then import it to itunes as mp3. when you rip it directly as mp3 it does have tiny skips on the tracks themselves. but with this process it does not have any.

[MrZebra77]

Here's how I do it.

When I try to rip a CD using either Quintessential Player, EAC or Windows Media Player they all spin for a while and eventually give an error message. Didn't try iTunes, I didn't have that back then.

I use a program called ISOBuster (http://www.isobuster.com) which is a Defective CD Recovery tool. Since Copy Protected CDs are technically defective, then that's what should be used.

There might be other ways of doing this, but this is what works for me.

Load the CD in ISOBuster, then right click any audio track except the first one and choose Play Audio. The song should start playing. Then while it is playing, right-click, play audio on the 1st track. It should then begin to play.

While it is playing, start the ripping function in your CD Ripping app of choice and it should work (Tested with Quinn and WMP only, but I'm pretty sure it would work in iTunes as well)

Another funny thing, on Joss Stone's latest album, she mentions the iPod in the lyrics yet the album is "Not meant to be played on an iPod" (Copy Protected)

[owain14]

I baught Placebo's sleeping with ghosts and didn't notice the copy protection logo 'till I was home. Despite this, it ripped fine using a pc.

wat's up with it then? are some cd's 'more' copy protected than others?

[yinyang]

well after complaining about copy protected CDs for quite a bit, i've just discovered that the mac OSX upgrade (10.3.8 or 10.3.9) has fixed this problem and my powerbook can now read previously unreadable CDs!!

way to go apple :D

[whyty69]

I refused to buy any of the Vines albums since they had copy-protection but when i bought them later (AU$18.95 for 2 albums was too hard to pass) they ripped on to iTunes fine.

A friend of mine couldn't rip Jet's Get Born, but when i tried on my PC with Windows XP it ripped with no probs into iTunes.

Then when i borrow another friend's The Music - Welcome to the North CD, because he couldn't rip it onto his PC, and I couldn't rip it onto mine, until I used Nero to burn a normal copy of it. It said the copy failed but iTunes recognised it in the E: drive when the burning finished and it works with no hassles.

Copy-protection standards vary, but this is what drives people to download illegal music. So many people have ipods or other mp3 players that even though the CD copied onto the PC, it copied in protected WMA format, which isn't compatible with normal mp3 players or iPods. EMI have to be compatible with them.

[Zoopod]

I had to return a double cd of Public Image LTD because it had copy protection and what happened is each track it only ripped the first couple seconds....

I think it really varies as I got the new Coldplay and it didnt have any protection on it

[ZooStation]

Originally posted by owain14
I baught Placebo's sleeping with ghosts and didn't notice the copy protection logo 'till I was home. Despite this, it ripped fine using a pc.

wat's up with it then? are some cd's 'more' copy protected than others?

Yes I did this exact same thing with Sleeping With Ghosts (and the covers album). I couldn't rip it into Itunes using my Windows 2000 Laptop (nor with EAC/LAME).. in fact, it didn't even play. I find this ironic, given that on the cd cover it says that it's compatible with a Windows blah blah machine (the irony of this just kills me). Anyway, I decided I would take it to work and try on my Windows XP professional, no problems there whatsoever using both Itunes and EAC/LAME. Just goes to show that the copy protection is a farce (get rid of it).. I've bought the album and want to put it on my Ipod just let me do that.

Oh as an aside, this is a great album and it's unfortunate that it's released through EMI. The latest Black Eyed Peas albums I've had absolutely no problems. Seven Circles by The Tea Party I haven't been able to rip the first song no matter what machine I use (granted haven't tried a Mac) and do you think you can even legally download this song in Australia?

[ZooStation]

I wonder if this is an Australian/Canadian/European thing. I can't imagine the US having copy protected CD's given their fair 'fair use' laws?

I'm also wondering if this is specific to EMI (and perhaps Sony)?

[bhaalspawn]

Quite the opposite in fact. It seems minaly to be a North American thing far more than a British thing, which I can't really figure out especially given American fair use laws. For example the new Coldplay album is copy protected in North America but not in the UK. There are several other big released in the UK which are copy protected in the US but not here.

I don't know why this is, on the basis that the simplest explanation is usually correct I'd say it's because America is just a bigger market and therefore copy protection matters to the record companies far more than it does for the UK. However there may be other factors as well. Can anybody else shed some more light on this?

Edited for spelling and grammer

[Leibstandarte]

I think that filesharing (on a large scale) originated in the US. Shawn Fanning, the creator of Napster, lives in the US. So many of the peer-to-peer apps are from the US anyway. America is the most common place for CDs to get pirated.

[geoffrymer]

What really annoys me about copy protection is that it doesn't stop anyone from literally copying a cd. A case in point: I was lucky enough last year to find a promotional copy of the last Graham Coxon album in a record shop in Brighton, UK, about 3 months before it was released. This cd was copy protected. As far as I went, I was unable to rip the last 3 tracks to my computer, no matter what I did. However, just by using Clone CD I could make an exact copy of the CD. So if I wanted to pirate it, this copy protection would not have stopped me. But it did stop me legitimately trying to put the album on my pod. Eventually I relented and bought the last 3 tracks again, from iTMS. Pointless, pointless, pointless.

[LinkTree]

I had the same thing with RADIOHEAD - ended up downloading it from the net in order to put it on the pod.
The other day I went to buy the gorillaz but notice (on the last minute that it was CP - said to the man there - thanx but no thanx - I'm not buying any of those - why the hell should I pay for later have to get it from the NET...

I'm sure that if they will check they will C that this thing - makes them loose much more money - since we ( the portable players ppl) buy much more music then any other ppl out there -

[jkravny]

On my pc I run a program called ANYDVD. It allows a windows machine to see both dvd's and cd's as if there is no such thing as copy protection.

I didn't have any problem with the Velvet Revolver album that has the copy protection on it or the latest Dave Matthews Band album.

[d00fuss]

I find the copy protectiong thing interesting on a Foo Fighters album. I saw them a while back... It was when the whole metallica vs Napster thing was going on. Dave Grohl came out and said, "F all of this Napster S, the music is for the people. Download what you want. I'm here to bring the music to the people"... or something to that effect. He then proceeded to sing to each portion of the arena and then took his guitar and walked around the crowd playing. Wonder if he had an objection to all of the CP stuff?

[sabian]

See the problem with the CP album i have - Payable on Death, is when you stick it into the computer you have to run the specific audio software on the CD in order to listen to the music. I cant seem to copy the CD using Nero, of get to any of the music track information through 'My Computer'... quite simply im rather stuck... i mean ive heard forum posts about using sticky tape etc to cover part of the CD that olds the CP section but that all sounds a bit extreame... any ideas or specific rip software titles that come to mind?

[jwc110869]

Thats the bad thing about about buying CDs (or is it not CDs) on line. You don't see the cover showing the warning label. Copy protection really only hurts the average consumer. The hacker and pirate is only slowed, slightly. I just got the Foo Fighters in the mail today, and iTunes is ripping it right now, but I won't know the quality of the rip untill I give it a full listen tommorow.

[jonat8]

Since I got a PowerBook G4, I haven't had any problems playing or ripping these so called "copy protected" CDs. I often don't know they're CP until I get them home because either the magnetic security sticker or some sort of thick plastic opaque security frame is often obscuring the copy protected label. Of course once they take it off at the till, it goes into a carrier bag so I don't notice it till I get home and unpack it.

Not that it's a problem, I have about 20 CP CD's in my collection and every one has ripped fine. Latest effort was "Mud on the Tires" by Brad Paisley (UK Version?) :) I use iTunes 4.9. Everytime, 2 CD icons mount on my desktop, the "audio CD" and a data portion. Sometimes if I click into the data portion, it's Windows files only, sometimes there is a "MacPlayer" application but there's no way I'm going to click on that!

Record company guys - you've spent millions on your copy "protection" and it's making absolutely no difference to my experience than a regular CD. Not sure that's how you wanted it to work out, lol.

[ddmcd]

I am conducting a survey of the companies I buy audio CD's from online and asking if they will make info about copy protection/crippling available in advance of purchase; so far no luck:

ddmcd.squarespace.com/living-with-technology/2005/6/19/online-music-sales-and-crippled-cds.html

if you know of any vendors who make this information available as part of the product detail listing, please let me know.

[iSoldier17]

I borrowed the Dave Matthews Band-Stand Up CD and it wouldn't rip into iTunes..well it would but the tracks all skipped and it played fine from the CD. There is some FBI warning on the back, I need to figure out how to get past this.

[pats1237]

I know that when Amazon sell cds right it the listings it says


COPY PROTECTED


Carlos Santana's new cd will be copy protected : (

[bryguy17]

I was just wondering what kinda luck (or trouble) people have had with copyright protected CDs. I got the new Foo Fighters album and got worried that it was copy protected, but it actually imported fine into itunes. wdw

[maccaloon]

I have purchased legal CDs of Gorillaz Demon Days and X & Y and managed to get both on my i-pod, but they have intermittent static pops. I presume this is part of the protection? How can I eliminate this when transfering to the i-pod? I tried something called Sound Forge but it didn't work.

Just a novice looking to put my legally-bought CDs on my legally-bought i-pod.

[Signal to Noise]

Originally posted by maccaloon
I have purchased legal CDs of Gorillaz Demon Days and X & Y and managed to get both on my i-pod, but they have intermittent static pops. I presume this is part of the protection? How can I eliminate this when transfering to the i-pod? I tried something called Sound Forge but it didn't work.

Just a novice looking to put my legally-bought CDs on my legally-bought i-pod.

I bought both CDs. I used EAC & Lame and the results are stellar. All tracks play fine on my iPod. I use iTunes as a ripper only when I'm in a hurry. I discovered long ago that iTunes can dish out a crappy track on average about 1 in 10 songs. EAC & Lame all the way, baby!:)

For more info on EAC/Lame look in the Digital Audio Formats (http://forums.ilounge.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&forumid=24) forum.

[azn1stknight]

Does anybody know how to rip Switchfoot's newest CD and making it compatible with my ipod?

[bdb]

Originally posted by pats1237
I know that when Amazon sell cds right it the listings it says
COPY PROTECTED
Don't count on it. In sampling their listing for some of the albums discussed in this thread, they're about 50/50 is showing CDs as copy-protected. X&Y and "Stand Up" are just listed as standard Audio CDs.

It would be nice if there was a site that listed copy-restricted CDs, similar to the RIAA Radar site that says if a CD is from an RIAA-member label. I've yet to buy a CD from a non-RIAA label that is copy-restricted.

I refuse to use the term "copy-protected". They're not "protecting" us from anything.

[bdb]

Originally posted by jonat8
Record company guys - you've spent millions on your copy "protection" and it's making absolutely no difference to my experience than a regular CD. Not sure that's how you wanted it to work out, lol. That's only because Apple's market share in the home PC market isn't very large. If their market share increases, its just a matter of time before there will be copy-protection from it.

There's even been a warning from the IFPI (Europe's version of the RIAA) that future CDs may not play on Macs: link (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2005/09/23/mac_linux_users_told_to_buy_cd_players/)

[bdb]

I've been doing some research on this today. Sony/BMI uses Suncomm restriction software, and intends to have all CDs sold in the US restricted by the end of the year. Since the DMCA is pretty restrictive about circumvention, I won't post the link...but suffice to say if you plug the words sunncomm and princeton into a search, you might turn up something.


In the late-2005 timeframe, Sony released some CDs with First4Internet's XCP scheme. This is the "rootkit" that gained all the media attention. The list of CDs with this protection is posted here (http://www.eff.org/IP/DRM/Sony-BMG/), along with some pointers on how to identify these CDs. Be very careful with these CDs, this is very nasty copy-protection. Sony has halted the production of them and will pull some off the shelf. And disregard reviews on amazon.com - people are claiming CDs have this when they don't.

EMI uses Macrovision SafeAudio. Again, no workaround, but search for copying copy-protected.Macrovision reportedly works with iTunes (http://www.theregister.co.uk/2004/08/23/macrovision_fairplay/), so it may appear to work - though your result may be a DRMed file.

There are other schemes, but these seem to be the main ones in use today. You'll want to check which label the artist is on, and try to work around it based on that.Further description of copy-restriction schemes can be found here. (http://www.cdrfaq.org/faq02.html)

Edited on Nov 15, 2005, to accomodate the legal stupidity that happens when politicians are bought. :rolleyes:

[Blackmane]

Seem to rip fine on my PC

[mulan3328]

Hi Everyone... I just got the new Biggie Duets CD and I cannot load it into itunes. It came with no warnings other than the FBIanti-piracy warning. I am not computer savvy but I think it's a major rip off the fact that you spend money on something that you can even play or use as you please. Is there a way around this?

[cdbearden]

Originally posted by randydecker
I bought Hail to the Thief and was disappointed to see the copy protected label on the back when I got home. I'm not sure if i would have bought it if I had noticed it when it was on the shelf. I copied it to my HD using iTunes no problem. Am I missing something? What exactly does "copy" mean?

I have Hail to the Thief and had no problem with it.

[iPodu8r]

I recently bought a cd and it has that blasted self starting media mess where it plays the cd under its own interface, when I go to close it it ejects the cd, what gives....

[knackroller]

Yes, I have quite a few "copy protected" CDs which are totally not protected on the mac. Looks like mac users have this "advantage", at least for now.

[Signal to Noise]

So far, out of a collection of about 450 paid for CDs, I have three poblem CP'd discs:

Jane's Addiction Strays (first track rips silent)
Placebo Meds (nothing)
Dandy Warhols' Odditorium (two tracks w/ glitches)

Interestingly, they are all on the EMI label.

[Wednesday]

Stabilo's Happiness and Disaster won't rip when I use EAC in Windows XP. It will, however, rip when I use EAC in Windows 2000. The fact that it wouldn't rip properly didn't surprise me, as it clearly says on the CD it is copy-protected, but I haven't yet figured out why I can rip it in 2000 and not XP. I also had this happen with KT Tunstall's Eye to the Telescope (also copy-protected).

~Wednesday~

[dachs99]

I bought a ColdPlay CD the other day. It is copy protected. I first ripped it to the hard drive as an MP3. After uploading it into my ipod I noticed it had static noise about every 10 seconds in all but the first song. I deleted them from the ipod and then ripped the CD to the hardrive as .wav files. I then converted the .wav files to MP3 and put them into the ipod. They now work fine. If it is that easy to do, why do they bother??? And if I buy the CD why don't they want me to have the ability to put it into my ipod, which I also bought!

[misper666]

i think proper copy-protected CD's just sit & spin in the HD & the comp won't acknowledge they're there. i have a few like that : (

[HamilcarBarca]

Here is one method to beat any copy protection - play the cd and use the analog output as the input for burning a new cd. You can then do anything you want with the tracks from this new cd. Works every time for me.

[jmmtn4aj]

Most copy-protected CDs work by having an addition data layer, containing the copy-protection (DRM) software. This layer is located after the audio tracks, on the outer rim of the disc surface. Here's how it works- The CD is inserted into the computer, and the computer automatically scans the entire CD. It then reads the software layer and determines that it needs the software in order to read the audio tracks. Hence the tracks can't be played or ripped without first installing the DRM software (for many if not most DRM protected CDs). The reason this doesn't work on a Mac is because the DRM software is programmed for PCs, and the reason that the CD will play fine on a standard standalone CD player is because the CD player can't read the software data layer.

Assuming its located on the outer rim of the disc, it might be possible to bypass the DRM features by blacking out the outter rim with an opaque non-permanent marker, or some cellophane tape (not recommended, cause it leaves a residue)

[urbanlegend]

Why not just turn off the auto detect or autoplay feature for your cd drives? Then the cd can't install it's virus and you're away to the races. I've never had a problem ripping cd's with audiograbber. Since the sony rootkit thing, I read labels pretty carefully and I won't buy cds with copy protection anymore. I'll just get them on bittorrent. It's my message to the majors.

John

[kylo4]

I have a load of copy protected albums that let me copy them to itunes and to actually burn them, like the Gorillaz's Demon Days. I can even rip dualdisks to itunes. What's strange is that some refuse to rip without third party software.

[Dr.Gonzo]

I have Sigur Ros, Agaetis Bjyurn (or however you spell it), or should I say had since I pitched it after it refused to import. It would do fine up until the 5th track and then it would grind to a halt. Everything else in my collection imported beautifully (even Radiohead 'Hail to the Thief') but that just wouldn't do it. I have seen it has copy protection, which factored in my decision to send it sailing into the trash can.

I'm pretty much done with buying CDs and will stick to iTunes and eMusic, at least with iTunes DRM I can still listen to it on my iPod and even burn it to a music disc if I choose.

[Grapejuice]

I think CP CDs is only a deterrent to the not so computer savvy. No matter what “they” do to CP there will always be a counter to it at some point. The sad thing about this is that CP will never be effective against the real perpetrators of music thievery. It reminds me of various “gun controls”. Anyone with a gun intended for criminal use will use it anyway. Just like anyone burning CD’s (movies, etc) for illegal purposes will continue to do so.
So I say again, it’s merely a deterrent for those that may be on the fence about burning illegally, a way to keep them on the fence or push them back into the purchase only side of the fence.

[Code Monkey]

I think CP CDs is only a deterrent to the not so computer savvy. No matter what “they” do to CP there will always be a counter to it at some point. The sad thing about this is that CP will never be effective against the real perpetrators of music thievery. It reminds me of various “gun controls”. Anyone with a gun intended for criminal use will use it anyway. Just like anyone burning CD’s (movies, etc) for illegal purposes will continue to do so.
So I say again, it’s merely a deterrent for those that may be on the fence about burning illegally, a way to keep them on the fence or push them back into the purchase only side of the fence.I nominate this post for the most pointless act of thread necromancy in recent memory.
http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f327/cesarhaha/forum%20replies/ThreadNecromancer.jpg

You bumped a thread that no one has responded to since Sept 2007 because the thread hasn't been relevant since around the same time. There haven't been copy protected CDs sold throughout the majority of the world for the past two years since, one, they weren't effective and, two, were causing more bad press than record labels were comfortable with. Making arguments that even the record labels now agree with is like finding a two year old thread about the Bush admin and arguing as if it were still in place.

[kornchild2002]

Yes, this topic really isn't relevant anymore. Record companies are even going the DRM-free route with their online music. The consumers didn't want this copy protection (or DRM) and the record companies are finally listening.

I laughed at your Bush comment. This person has two posts and joined last month (my guess is that they joined less than a week ago), we will see if you scared them away or if they come back.

P.S.












I agree