software training dvds can be useful, especially for beginners, but they tend to run a little pricey. i just ran across a site that rents dvds ranging from photoshop through Lightwave through dreamweaver. in addition to software training, there are dvds for other 'hobbies' such as piloting, etc. the site is http://smartflix.com/ i know this is not completely FREE, but it is certainly cheaper than the alternative!

I had my doubts about the legality of said practice, but quoting their site:

Is it legal for SmartFlix to rent out these videos? Yes. Under US Copyright law, one does not need permission of the original copyright holder to rent out a lawfully acquired copy of the video (this is known as the "first sale" doctrine, and is explained in 17 USC, section 109 of the US Copyright law).

However, in my opinion, this only applies to video/DVDs. it doesn't apply to software. somebody may wanna check with lynda.com and related video training sites.

This looks interesting. Their selection is a bit limited for CG stuff, but I'm sure that it's a very niche market too.

Our local libary rents out training DVD's - if enough people request something they'll often buy a copy.  Most DVD's only cost 2-3 UKP to rent as well.  

o.k., I checked with lynda.com legal dept. it's illegal to rent out their dvds, which have a single-user licence. however, I don't see any lynda.com dvds on the smartflix site, which has poser 6 and carrara 5 dvds.

Im going to move this thread to the CC forum, as this forum is for free items only ;)

after talking to lynda.com, it occurred to me that producing these DVDs for rental might be a better business model than selling 'em, as the relatively high price of software-training DVDs may discourage some from buying them, and encourage illegal distribution via P2P and newsgroups. if one only needs the training DVD for a week, and it becomes obsolete quickly, it makes more sense to rent it IMVHO.