# Unable to record Hulu and other DRM (digital rights media) protected content



## BaBa Boo (Sep 29, 2020)

Does anyone know how to record DRM (digital rights media) protected content?

I had been using my windows screen recorder to record Hulu and other such streaming platforms for personal use with no problems whatsoever for many years including up to late last night.

But just today when I restarted my laptop, all recordings I try to get result in a blank screen with only audio, mouse cursor, and the show's player controls. DRM protections seem to have been activated to block images even though I didn't change anything (settings etc.) from what I had been doing for all these years to last night when everything was still working.

Oddly, screen recording still works in full on youtube no matter the content. Hulu and network tv show websites don't.

I only archive for personal use with no distribution whatsoever. Please help.


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## qhobbes (Sep 29, 2020)

OBS is not meant pirate content, it's meant to create content.


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## BaBa Boo (Sep 30, 2020)

qhobbes said:


> OBS is not meant pirate content, it's meant to create content.



As I stated I only record for personal use. If you still just want to label that as piracy instead of helping feel free to spare me.


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## FerretBomb (Sep 30, 2020)

BaBa Boo said:


> As I stated I only record for personal use. If you still just want to label that as piracy instead of helping feel free to spare me.


It absolutely, 100% is still piracy, and OBS is not designed to facilitate stealing others' content. We will not help you in being a thief.


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## koala (Sep 30, 2020)

If content is DRM-protected, it's always black. There is no possible technical workaround. It will stay black even if you buy a hdmi capture card and record the monitor signal. It's protected by the DRM mechanics, not by OBS skipping such content.
Windows cannot even create screenshots of such material.


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## BaBa Boo (Sep 30, 2020)

koala said:


> If content is DRM-protected, it's always black. There is no possible technical workaround. It will stay black even if you buy a hdmi capture card and record the monitor signal. It's protected by the DRM mechanics, not by OBS skipping such content.
> Windows cannot even create screenshots of such material.



That's unfortunate if true. It's strange because I was able to screen record virtually everything without issue for years until two days ago. 

Something changed with DRM online or with my laptop after rebooting. I tried several other screen recorders which still resulted in blank screens with audio even on network websites which were also recordable until two days ago. I noticed my laptop took much longer than normal to reboot just before I was no longer able to screen record so it's possible a DRM blocking update and/or settings change occurred then. 

If I was never able to record these programs I would agree with you but this wasn't the case. Since I was able to record them before (and recently) there must be a way to again even if it's not as straightforward as it was previously.


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## qhobbes (Oct 1, 2020)

> You may not either directly or through the use of any device, software, internet site, web-based service, or other means copy, record, download, stream capture, reproduce, duplicate, archive, distribute, upload, publish, modify, translate, broadcast, perform, display, sell, or transmit or retransmit the Content unless expressly permitted by the terms of your subscription or otherwise by Hulu in writing.











						Watch Thousands of Shows and Movies | Hulu
					

Stream full seasons of exclusive series, current-season episodes, hit movies, Hulu Originals, kids shows, and more. Watch on your TV, laptop, phone, or tablet. Free trial available for new and eligible returning subscribers.




					www.hulu.com


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## rx2130 (Oct 15, 2020)

koala said:


> If content is DRM-protected, it's always black. There is no possible technical workaround. It will stay black even if you buy a hdmi capture card and record the monitor signal. It's protected by the DRM mechanics, not by OBS skipping such content.
> Windows cannot even create screenshots of such material.


What you stated is incorrect.


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## rx2130 (Oct 15, 2020)

BaBa Boo said:


> That's unfortunate if true. It's strange because I was able to screen record virtually everything without issue for years until two days ago.
> 
> Something changed with DRM online or with my laptop after rebooting. I tried several other screen recorders which still resulted in blank screens with audio even on network websites which were also recordable until two days ago. I noticed my laptop took much longer than normal to reboot just before I was no longer able to screen record so it's possible a DRM blocking update and/or settings change occurred then.
> 
> If I was never able to record these programs I would agree with you but this wasn't the case. Since I was able to record them before (and recently) there must be a way to again even if it's not as straightforward as it was previously.


Check the settings in your browser and in OBS and make sure hardware acceleration is not enabled. More than likely, an update has changed the settings. As to the other comments, recording streaming content for your own use is not piracy, even if it violates a streaming service's terms of service.


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## J J _7_7 (Dec 16, 2021)

I was recording just a minute or two of video on Hulu just a few months ago. Now I can't they did something that changed it.      What I don't understand is in order for it to display on the screen it needs to at some point become analog.  if a person had a video card with old RCA video outputs, they could record it because it would be completely analog.  Maybe it isn't in a computer, but at the screen level, it should be untouchable by any external software like Hulu.     I am not blaming OBS, but I do believe there is and should be a way to simply have a program that records at the screen level and does not try to draw from some stream deeper towards the origin of the content.   Unchecking hardware acceleration does not fix the issue.     

Recording for ones own personal use is not illegal.   My clips I record are not keeping Hulu from making money at all.


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## koala (Dec 16, 2021)

J J _7_7 said:


> What I don't understand is in order for it to display on the screen it needs to at some point become analog. if a person had a video card with old RCA video outputs, they could record it because it would be completely analog.


This is what is called the "analog hole". The Designers who made DRM thought about this circumvention. If it comes to video, as far as I remember the video signal isn't allowed to go to an analog output above some threshold resolution. As far as I remember, if some output device (or device driver) isn't telling it's practicing DRM, material is only output with a maximum resolution of DVD (768x576) or something near this value. You can get analog output, but not with the high quality resolution of today's digital video.

It may even be that today analog output is blocked completely. For example, if you add an old VGA card with an analog output to your PC and extend your Windows desktop on it, it might very well be that it will just contain a blank space where the video is supposed to be, just like in OBS recordings.

DRM is evil. Evil to the bone.


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## charityvirtue (Dec 3, 2022)

qhobbes said:


> OBS is not meant pirate content, it's meant to create content.


Recording Copyrighted material is not inherently piracy under the DMCA. Do not post misinformation intentionally.


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## charityvirtue (Dec 3, 2022)

FerretBomb said:


> It absolutely, 100% is still piracy, and OBS is not designed to facilitate stealing others' content. We will not help you in being a thief.


No, this is 0% Piracy. Piracy is the act of intentional and apparent distribution of copyrighted material for gains monetary or otherwise without transformative, artistic, or other suitably reasonable alterations or uses. Personal non-commercial use of copyrighted material is not only mostly protected by the DMCA but highly unlikely to cause financial or material loss to the copyright holder, or to be pursuable in court to an effective ends. Do not spread misinformation intentionally.


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## .norman. (Dec 3, 2022)

charityvirtue said:


> No, this is 0% Piracy. Piracy is the act of intentional and apparent distribution of copyrighted material for gains monetary or otherwise without transformative, artistic, or other suitably reasonable alterations or uses. Personal non-commercial use of copyrighted material is not only mostly protected by the DMCA but highly unlikely to cause financial or material loss to the copyright holder, or to be pursuable in court to an effective ends. Do not spread misinformation intentionally.


argue the intention all you wish, at the end of the day, OBS is not intended to record, capture, or stream copyrighted material. While the act of recording the material itself may not be piracy by definition, because the possibility exists DRM will stop these activities. 

it is hardly "spreading misinformation intentionally"


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