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For the past two to three weeks I'm really confused about this thing. There are sites online that offer free content to watch. It's written in their site that they don't host any videos and their videos are uploaded by users. So that video may be copyright but site claims no ownership of that videos. Similarly some pirated videos are also uploaded on YouTube by some users. ´

Are we allowed to watch them? Would we be stealing if we are streaming such videos?
I'm not talking about downloading, copying or distributing but is only streaming also not allowed?

Medi1Saif
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Mr Mithrandir
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1 Answers1

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Even if you are not downloading, copying or distributing the content you are still consuming it in a different way. You are enjoying the content in a way in which you would otherwise have had to pay money for. If the creator of the content has not agreed for it to be published on this website then you are operating against his wishes and possibly damaging his financial livelihood -- theft in other words.

RandomUser
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  • What about YouTube. YouTube removes any video that is copyrighted. Why we are to held accountable if someone uploads a copyrighted video. Secondly what do u think about fair clause use? – Mr Mithrandir Jun 02 '20 at 17:57
  • If you happen to unknowingly and unintentionally stumble upon copyrighted material then of course you can't be held accountable. That however was not the issue in mind, you were specifically talking about a website illegally hosting copyrighted material -- that is equivalent to physically entering a black market and obtaining illegal goods. I also think fair use is great. These websites aren't fair use though now are they? They don't use snippets of copyrighted material, they use the entirety of them and put on a myriad of commercials and receive undeserved profit. – RandomUser Jun 03 '20 at 12:55
  • Bro some are completely free non commercialized add free websites which are created by fans. So what's your opinion regarding those websites? And btw how do i know that a video in YouTube is pirated or not.? – Mr Mithrandir Jun 03 '20 at 17:42
  • Also can we pirate things which are not available in our country? – Mr Mithrandir Jun 03 '20 at 17:56
  • and I'm talking about sites like KissAnime.ru, animeflix.io etc. Can u check whether they are legal or not? thanks – Mr Mithrandir Jun 03 '20 at 17:59
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    Even if they receive no monetary benefit from ads, they or their website are still receiving publicity. Even if they had uploaded the content without any devious intention and solely due to their admiration of said content that would still against the wishes of the creator of the content because they are redirecting his viewership to themselves, and possibly causing him financial loss. By putting it out there on the internet they are also allowing other people to pirate said content, further damaging the content creator. – RandomUser Jun 03 '20 at 22:18
  • YouTube doesn't allow copyrighted content on the site unless it's by the way of fair use, so ethically speaking it would be fine to browse YouTube. You are however correct in that sometimes copyrighted content remains undetected by YouTube's algorithms. It is then left to your judgement in order to decide what is fair and what is not. An entire and new Hollywood film uploaded to YouTube? I think it's safe to say it's copyrighted, and just like you wouldn't deliberately walk into a black market, it is your moral obligation to close the tab. – RandomUser Jun 03 '20 at 22:30
  • I'm familiar with these websites. These websites are illegal because they host copyrighted content. You should ask yourself how they manage to obtain the newest episodes of various animes. Technically speaking however, even though it answers the simple definition of theft, if you live in a place where you have no legal option of buying these animes then you are not really hurting the content creator anyway, so one might consider streaming fine in that regard. – RandomUser Jun 03 '20 at 22:47
  • Thank you bro. It was good talking to you. Actually I'm from Pakistan and there's no way of legal Anime streaming except chrunchyroll which has only few anime. Other than that there's no way of watching it legally. Secondly I was asking question about YouTube because some very old anime are uploaded on YouTube so i was doubtful whether it was copyright or not – Mr Mithrandir Jun 04 '20 at 17:54