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Would it halachically be considered geneivah if I watch a copyrighted video for free, for example, on YouTube?

Raphael Chilungu
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    Kind of related: https://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/119122/is-viewing-pirated-media-permitted – Avishai Tebeka Mar 28 '23 at 17:22
  • A copyrighted video does not automatically mean that it was pirated. Copyright means that sharing it, downloading it etc... is limited to specific rules. Pirated videos are those that denied those rules. – Shmuel Mar 28 '23 at 18:22
  • There are a lot of copyrighted videos on YouTube. The producers can get paid for every view. It really depends on a lot of factors, but just because something is on YouTube, it's not necessarily free. – Learnmore Mar 28 '23 at 18:43
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    There are various opinions, but there are solid arguments to permit on the basis that it is NOT: A) Gezel, which many say only applies to tangible property, B) Ma'avir 'al da'as (e.g. if making a personal copy of something you bought, despite the terms of purchase), because asmachta lo kanya, C) Dina d'malchusa, as this is outside of the scope of DMD according to many opinions, D) Masig g'vul or hezek, provided you aren't the person who posted the video and you wouldn't have otherwise paid for it anyway, E) Chilul HaShem, provided you hold the above factors don't apply and you do it privately. – Fred Mar 28 '23 at 21:21

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Just to give you one opinion, Rabbi Dov Lior has written in a short online teshuvah that pirated content on the internet is like a lost object the owner has no hope of recovering and therefore it is not prohibited to download. It's a short teshuvah so I don't know if he thinks it's ethical or advisable, but he says it's not stealing. I'm sure others would disagree. https://www.yeshiva.org.il/ask/5033

Probably not worth much more than an anecdote but my Rav personally has told me it is asur to steal content that the creator/publisher is still selling on the market (but copying an out of print book might be different).

Avraham
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