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While there is a war raging on about whether it is legal to copy your DVDs or not, you will be able to copy your Blu-ray discs (BDs) complete with the studios’ permission soon.  The Advanced Access Content System Licensing Administrator is responsible for the copy protection on BDs and will require the studios who use their technology to allow BDs to be copied by the consumer.  This is called a “managed copy.”

That means that movies that have the AACS copy protection will be copiable starting next year.  There are, of course, a bunch of qualifications to this news.

The AACS-LA is only requiring that the studios allow one copy of the BD.  There is nothing saying that these copies must be free; the studios will be able to charge for these copies.  Also, since this is a “managed copy,” expect it to be DRM-laden and it will probably only work with specific partners.  On the bright side, these are supposed to be full copies of the discs including special features as well as the feature film. 

The studios still must approve and then sign the agreement.  Since the agreement seems relatively studio-friendly, they will probably go along with it unless they want to adopt a new copy protection standard.

As an aside, Mac fans are out of luck since Apple is not participating in the discussions.  There’s nothing stopping them from joining in, so if they ever decide to officially support Blu-ray, who knows what will happen. 

Read: [Video Business]