transferring backups from a non repairable external HD to a new HD

So I basically have my life's work on a hard drive. something happened with it randomly and it couldnt mount the the part of the HD that has all my data on it. (I'm on a porsche design 1 TB external HD) Tried to repair it with disk utility, and I got a notice that said "can't repair, back up as many files as you can and reformat." so I bought a WD 1 TB Passport. However, I can't transfer my backups from my porsche design HD (corrupted?) to my new WD passport. Every time I try to transfer my back up files, I get a pop up that says "can't transfer data because ownership isn't enabled" but all my 'shares and permissions' and read & write. Im on the latest version of mavericks if that helps at all. Literally Every Single Song I've produced in the last five years is on this drive, including master tracks to albums. been going crazy looking for a solution for the last few weeks. whats up macworld?

I might add (before I installed the latest version of mavericks) that I couldnt transfer backups from my old HD to my new due to "files being in use". even with all applications shut down. Im on a late 2008 aluminum body 13" macbook. (not a macbook pro)