This was during the era before streaming services became the norm, when Netflix was still brand new, they actually started by sending physical discs before launching their streaming service existed. You rent a copy and a disc is sent to your home within a few days but there’s a written letter telling you have to return it by a certain date otherwise they’ll charge extra.
That copy isn’t yours to keep, so what ends up happening during those days were people using blank DVD’s alongside their PC and DVD burning software to pirate the content from movie rentals (also DVDrips existed, but those file sizes are massive during dial up internet being broken up into .VOB / .BUP in a folder or outright converted into an large .ISO file).
It was either DVDrip (.mkv) or literally copying onto a blank DVD. VCD’s are an alternative for compression but sacrifices quality as a CD is designed to hold music rather than video. DVD ripping software exists, but you need heaps of storage on PC to hold those ripped files whilst maintaining their metadata (subtitles, dubbing, dolby / surround) and the file sizes are large.
Even if you have the ripped files, you still needed software to play them (VLC media player) or any proper digital DVD player (as an .ISO file isn’t the same as an .mp4) but nowadays most discs have AACS 2.0 to avert piracy (especially 4K movies and Blu Ray, the file sizes for those are a joke to pirate as they’re over 50 GB in FILE SIZE! like WTF!).
Speaking for myself - generally, no. A couple of reasons why. Even “back then” (early 2000s), files could be downloaded from torrents as needed in glorious 360-480p lol. Locally, illegal movies were easy to obtain as burned DVDs from corner stores / under the counter. I still have bodgy copies of LOTR (obtained in Bali, iirc). My wife OTOH would indeed rent DVDs and burn copies but that was never a thing for me.
Honestly, the culture was different and we used to look forward to going to Blockbuster, Video Ezy etc. Browsing the shelves and actually watching stuff instead of “curating a collection”. The hire terms were pretty reasonable (7 days). You could hire something, watch it over the week, and return it. $10 for 2 weeklies and a new release meant a week of viewing.
I remember hiring box sets of 24, Firefly etc like this - never bothered to burn them because there was just too much friction. It’s not like now where I can drop a DVD into a dvd burner and have it automagically appear on my NAS and Jellyfin.
I do remember in the 80’s and 90’s though - we would hire Sega Master System games, unscrew the cartridge, swap out the PCB with one you owned locally (usually Alex the Kidd), return game to store (hires we strictly 1-3 days). That way you play for as long as needed, then “hire” the OG cart back and swap the PCBs back around.