Is it illegal to watch movies online?

Soubrette

pendulum wrote: »

Streaming a movie means that your computer downloads the first part of that movie, then allows you to begin watching the movie whilst it downloads the rest. If your computer can download the movie faster than you can watch it, then you can watch it uninterrupted. Your media player will probably save the downloaded parts too, to enable you to use the slider to "rewind" and replay a previous scene that you want to see again, without having to download that part again.

I'm pretty sure streaming a movie is just as illegal as downloading it (as they are, more or less, the same thing).

You can only watch streamed movies from a website - you don't download them onto your media player and watch them from there, small parts may be buffered onto your computer but it won't be all of it (or even half of it). You rewind from the website.

Sou

superscaper

Soubrette wrote: »

I agree with part of what you are saying, I had assumed that the law had not caught up with the technology.

I've been searching for the site (I had thought it was the BBC) from which I read the original information and of course I can't find it :rolleyes: so I suppose until I come across it again probably best to assume what you say stands

Sou

The law hasn't caught up with tecnhology which is WHY it is illegal. The copyright, designs and patents act is a draconian law but it takes a blanket view that ALL copying is illegal unless permission given otherwise. Streaming is just another form of copying, whether it's copying bits at a time or not it's still copying. If you don't have rights or permission to the material being copied, then it's illegal. That's why it's currently still actually illegal to rip your CDs to mp3.

At the general gist of some of the comments on this threas: even if it were legal, that it's somehow "ok" to benefit from someone else (the streaming hosts) doing something illegal would be pretty unethical logic in my opinion.

Soubrette

superscaper wrote: »

The law hasn't caught up with tecnhology which is WHY it is illegal. The copyright, designs and patents act is a draconian law but it takes a blanket view that ALL copying is illegal unless permission given otherwise. Streaming is just another form of copying, whether it's copying bits at a time or not it's still copying. If you don't have rights or permission to the material being copied, then it's illegal. That's why it's currently still actually illegal to rip your CDs to mp3.

But even if it were legal, that it's somehow "ok" to benefit from someone else (the streaming hosts) doing something illegal would be pretty unethical logic in my opinion.

Are you asking my opinion or just giving yours?

I'm only answering the OPs post from my own experience (and I will give a link if I ever find it again) my moral thoughts are irrelevent to this thread

Sou

superscaper

Soubrette wrote: »

Are you asking my opinion or just giving yours?

I'm only answering the OPs post from my own experience (and I will give a link if I ever find it again) my moral thoughts are irrelevent to this thread

Sou

The second comment was general (think I deleted that bit by accident) not aimed at you specifically. Since edited.

Soubrette

I still can't find a definitive answer from the BBC but did find this http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_3090000/newsid_3093100/3093138.stm

What about streaming music?
You're a lot safer streaming than downloading if it's free music you want.
That means watching video clips of your fave bands on websites is allowed.
Using other websites that just play music to you is fine too, as they pay record companies for the music you want to listen too.
These services don't store the music files on your computer, or let you put them onto your MP3 player or mobile phone.

Still seems a bit woolly to me though.

Sou

superscaper

Soubrette wrote: »

I still can't find a definitive answer from the BBC but did find this http://news.bbc.co.uk/cbbcnews/hi/newsid_3090000/newsid_3093100/3093138.stm



Still seems a bit woolly to me though.

Sou

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Not woolly. If you can find the exemption for streaming in there you're welcome to look.

Soubrette

superscaper wrote: »

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Not woolly. If you can find the exemption for streaming in there you're welcome to look.

I'm afraid we're going to have to agree to disagree unless you can offer a link with definitive proof that streaming is considering copying.

The law refers to copyright with the emphasis on copy. If you watch something on youtube which is on there illegally it is youtube who has the responsibility to take it down - it is not the viewer who is doing anything illegal.

If you listen to music on the radio and the radiostation is not paying the fees it should be then it is the radio station who is acting illegally, not the listener.

Sou

superscaper

Soubrette wrote: »

I'm afraid we're going to have to agree to disagree unless you can offer a link with definitive proof that streaming is considering copying.

The law refers to copyright with the emphasis on copy. If you watch something on youtube which is on there illegally it is youtube who has the responsibility to take it down - it is not the viewer who is doing anything illegal.

If you listen to music on the radio and the radiostation is not paying the fees it should be then it is the radio station who is acting illegally, not the listener.

Sou

Of course it's copying. If it wasn't how would you be able to view it? Copyright infringement is the process of copying without permission. Not whether you retain the copies. The fact that you may or may not recover any file on your computer that is the entire video doesn't change that your computer went through a stage of copying copyrighted material without permission. The radio analogy is false because it's not a multicast like movie streaming but a true passive broadcast. Also there's merely receivership and no form of copying. Whereas with a computer any data flow/process is a form of copying. Just ask all the people prosecuted for making copies of illegal (e.g. child !!!!!!) images. They may not have specifically "downloaded" the files but merely viewing them on the computer consituted copying under prosecution. It's just that (at the moment) the CPS and police wouldn't be interested and would be too uneconomical to prove anyone merely viewing copyrighted material. In the same way people who download illegal copyrighted files aren't being prosecuted. They're only going after the "uploaders". But legality and prosecutability are two different things.

wazza

kwikbreaks wrote: »

Hmmm...
I thought I'd take a look to see what I thought of the legality and surprise surprise this was the first hit...

  Results 1 - 10 of about 365,000,000 for 'x movies'.  (0.12 seconds) 
 
Search Results
 
   1. Results include your SearchWiki notes for 'x movies'. 
   2. X Movies - Download and Watch Over 2500+ !!!!!! dvds 
Access thousands of hardcore adult XXX !!!!!! dvds available for downloading instantly! 
Unlimited access to everything, Daily updates and Free Samples! xmovies.com/ 
 
Amateur (5) Teens (373) Anal Mature (38) Bigbutts (76) Gangbangs (128) Shemale (80) Bigtits (69)
 

I'm not sure if this is all legal or not but being a tad old fashioned I don't think I'd want either of my daughters watching these.

Should have made myself clear. When i said 'x movies' i was trying to imply 'x' can be the name of any movie like transformers 2 etc and not !!!!!!. :rotfl:

pendulum

Admittedly there are different methods of streaming a movie but with each one it requires the copyrighted material to be downloaded, and during the stream, copyrighted material will be copied into computer memory, even if it doesn't stay there long. I wouldn't like to be the one trying to defend myself against the experts the music/film industry would trot out to prove it. Treat streaming the same as downloading, as there's little difference.