I have just bought a Panasonic DMR-E55 dvd recorder, and when i connected it up to my Panasonic Sch-Mt1, trying to back up my dvd collection, when i pressed play on my recorder, NO REC, appears on my dvd recorder screen, is there any way that i can back up my dvds using my panny recorder and my surround sound player.

you're suffering the effects of CGMS and Macrovision, no legal way around it as far as i know for standalone machines.