I use nero almost all the time as my primary DVD burning software. I have others, but nero seems to be the best.
As far as protection goes, search google for a DVD ripper. You'll need to rip the program and store it on your hard drive, and then burn it to DVD. There may be some rippers out there that'll automatically burn it to disc, though I don't really know. I imagine that some DVD rippers bypass protection encoding. I know that some CD rippers do.
Be aware that most DVDs are usually 120 minutes in length. If a movie goes over that length, you might come to a problem, especially if you want to include all menu items that sometimes come with a movie, say that you want to add the added portions of deleted scenes or whatever.
- Ray M -