You are quite right that EA detects CD/DVD Emulation software. Only one it seems to ignore is Daemon Tools. You will probably also find that once you have installed the No-CD/DVD patch and regenerated the LOTRbfme.dat file the game will work, however other EA game's that you have installed and backed up, no longer work unless you use the original disc. So in this case it would be better if you continued to use the original disc, without the patch.
Maybe one day this problem will be fixed