Remove DRM from WMV

[Stefan]

How do I remove DRM from WMV?

I have a bunch of WMV files that I want to view on my laptop while on the train, but they won't play unless they can get DRM licenses via the Internet. There is no Internet on the train!

[Will.Spencer]

To remove DRM (Digital Rights Management) features from a WMV file, you will need an application that plays the WMV file and re-records it in another format.

You will need to be connected to the Internet to retrieve a valid DRM license during the conversion, but after that you will be able to play the videos on the train.

Tunebite is one such application. Tunebite plays music, audio books and video clips in WMA, M4P, AAC, M4B and MP4 formats and re-records them in MP3, OGG, WMA, WMV or MPEG4 format.

Alternatively, you could try the free, but not terribly user friendly, combination of DRMDBG and DRM2WMV. DRMDBG retrieves the KID and the seed from memory when a DRM protected file is being played and saves them into a key file. DRM2WMV uses that key file to replay the WMV and create and unprotected version of the WMV file.

[John]

How effective are those methods you outlined, Will? I've come up against DRM before and have continually hit brick walls when it comes to circumventing it.

I've had partial success with DRM2WMV, though I am aware of how un-user friendly the software is. I've still got files that I cannot play, though will take your recommendation of Tunebite and see how it goes.

I'm assuming that DRM has been updated on multiple occasions, as I know that it wasn't long after it had been released that workarounds were made public. As much as I respect the ethics behind DRM, my problem is if, like Stefan, I want to play new media offline.

[Will.Spencer]

These methods work, but can be difficult to implement. That's one good thing about Tunebite -- vendor support!

[darviria]

I've come accross something like this once with wma I think, the way I got around it was to simply output it to my mixer and record it back in wav then convert it to mp3....but i'm a sound tech so I have access to mixers, that was just a quick and easy way around it for me.

wma/wmv is not a good format....not at all, if you can, obtain your audio files in mp3, wav or flac format and videos in mpg or avi

Why do microsoft always insist on making their own versions of things? Most audio formats are platform independant but, as usual, wma/wmv is not, at least not completly.

[3327]

5star freeTunes can remove all of your DRM audio and video data that currently only plays in your iTunes or Windows Media Player. it works great! never had any problems.