How to Rip a DVD to your iPhone 4 FREE

Ripping is the process of copying audio or video content to a hard disk, typically from removable media. The word is used to refer to all forms of media. Despite the name, neither the media nor the data in it is damaged after extraction.
Digital audio extraction is a more formal phrase applied to the ripping of audio CDs. Ripping is distinct from simple file copying, in which the source audio/video is not formatted for ease of use in a computer filesystem. For example, the hierarchy of files making up the audio/video data on a DVD-Video disc can be encoded into a single MPEG file. In addition, the copied data are often compressed with appropriate codecs. Ripping is often used to shift formats, and to edit, duplicate or back up media content. Media files released on the Internet may describe the source of the rip in their names, e.g. DVD-Rip.[1]

United States
On the whole, it is legal for an individual in the United States to make a copy of media he/she owns for his/her own personal use. For instance, making a copy of a personally-owned audio CD for transfer to an MP3 player for that person's personal use would be legal.
In the case where media contents are protected using some effective copy protection scheme, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act makes it illegal to manufacture or distribute circumvention tools and use those tools for non-fair use purposes. In the case RealNetworks v. DVD-CCA[2], the final injunction reads, "while it may well be fair use for an individual consumer to store a backup copy of a personally owned DVD on that individual's computer, a federal law has nonetheless made it illegal to manufacture or traffic in a device or tool that permits a consumer to make such copies."[3] This case made clear that manufacturing and distribution of circumvention tools was illegal, but fair use of those tools was not.
There are also legal restrictions on what may be done with rips. As made clear above, ripping unencrypted media for personal use is legal. However, it is often the case that musical works and videos are not ripped solely for personal use but are distributed to others. Unless this distribution fits into one of few circumstances, then this constitutes an offense under U.S. copyright law as distribution is one of the exclusive rights granted to copyright holders.[4] This is regardless of whether the distribution is commercial or free of charge. The circumstances under which the ripped media may be distributed to others without infringing on copyright law include narrowly-defined fair use distributions and distributions of material that is either in the public domain or is available under a license that specifically grants distribution rights, such as various Creative Commons licenses.
An update to this ruling was issued to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act on July 23, 2010. Video remix artists and other noncommercial users of copyrighted material that falls within Fair Use doctrine are no longer shackled to a DVD copy protection measure that prevented them from legally ripping a DVD for such purposes[5].
"Noncommercial videos are a powerful art form online, and many use short clips from popular movies. Finally the creative people that make those videos won't have to worry that they are breaking the law in the process, even though their works are clearly fair uses. That benefits everyone — from the artists themselves to those of us who enjoy watching the amazing works they create," confirmed Corynne McSherry, senior staff attorney for Electronic Frontier Foundation [6].
Recording industry representatives have claimed (in the context of Atlantic v. Howell) that ripping itself may be regarded as copyright infringement.[7] However, there is no legal precedent for this and, even within the industry, this is the minority view. In oral arguments before the Supreme Court in MGM Studios, Inc. v. Grokster, Ltd., Don Verrilli, representing MGM stated: "And let me clarify something I think is unclear from the amicus briefs. The record companies, my clients, have said, for some time now, and it's been on their Website for some time now, that it's perfectly lawful to take a CD that you've purchased, upload it onto your computer, put it onto your iPod. There is a very, very significant lawful commercial use for that device, going forward."[8]