This is presuming he doesn't have libdvdcss installed. If he does, I think it is literally as simple as copying the files over to the hard drive, regardless of whether or not the disc is copy protected. I'm not exactly certain if this is the case, since I've always had libdvdcss on my system (VLC usually requires it), and I'm not certain if any of the silver DVDs I've put in my computer were actually copy protected, but I've heard that it is supposed to let you access DVDs like a block device (i.e. like a normal data disc or your hard drive).