A friend from college has asked me to back up a copy of his work but the computer has put a copy protection on it. IS there any way to bipass the protection? Thanks.

AnyDVD.  I forget who makes it, but do a google search.  It's got a free 30 day trial, and provides a transparent interface to any software.

CloneDVD, made by the same company, can clone the dvd contents to a new dvd.

They are usually found together on file sharing programs, but I of course can't recommend pirating software.

And Akamas said there was no way around it  :P

both products are by slysoft and can be found on thier website.

When ever I get hit by copy protection, I litterally copy and paste the dvd onto my harddrive. My computer, right click on cdrom, copy, and paste to desktop. Surprisingly this works a vast majority of the time when programs like nero, and alcohol120 fail.

your arnt even stripping the protection from the vob files , i doubt that works at all.

[quote author=Meh link=topic=10139.msg94562#msg94562 date=1105124283]
And Akamas said there was no way around it :P
[/quote]

Neg, I said I wasn't sure.

[quote author=effect link=topic=10139.msg94626#msg94626 date=1105158301]
your arnt even stripping the protection from the vob files , i doubt that works at all.
[/quote]
It didnt work for me.

Yes , you must use software such as AnyDVD as iago mentioned to remove region encoding and dvd copy protection.