Downloading TV Shows Illegal?


Recommended Posts

There are legal precedents regarding using a home video recording device to record content you subscribe to and/or receive on TV for "time shifting" purposes. If you want the legal precedent, I believe it was involving Sony BetaMax and Universal.

Downloading TV shows from Youtube or other sources does not fall under the same category as time shifting a broadcast right from what you are already receiving. Currently, this runs afoul of copyright law - until such time a case is made that sets a precedent that it is OK to download whole episodes (say, downloading the entire Seinfeld 9 seasons or whatever, ripped from DVD).

Sure, you can catch Seinfeld daily on almost any channel these days (so it seems), but it does not give any individual the right to download them.

My understanding is that the law says it is illegal to share/distribute things for which you do not own the copyright or distribution permission.

Using bittorrent, you're sharing/distributing. That's against the law.

Thats not entirely it. Partly but it's also to do with licensing and rating.

The channels that carry the show are the only ones licensed to provide it, you aren't allowed to provide it (share/distribute) like you mentioned but you are also not allowed to obtain it from unlicensed sources.

Also they don't want people downloading it because they cannot keep track of that to count towards ratings. Official ratings with what determines how much they should/could charge for advertising. So more people downloading the show, less ratings, less revenue from their ad spots.

They also don't like downloads obviously because they don't have the commercials. Even though yes, you may pay for your cable and record it on a DVR/PVR and skip the commercials, they have been fighting about the use of technology used to bypass commercials with such ease, since TiVo came on the scene.

Illegal or not, if KXAN and NBC wont let timewarner broadcast their signal, ill keep downloading my shows to watch them. Im not making a profit, and the signal they broadcast is given to them free by the government, so watching the show in another way when the first way isnt available , i see it as being ok lol.

Illegal or not, if KXAN and NBC wont let timewarner broadcast their signal, ill keep downloading my shows to watch them. Im not making a profit, and the signal they broadcast is given to them free by the government, so watching the show in another way when the first way isnt available , i see it as being ok lol.
(N)

Along the same lines, one could say:

Illegal or not, if Microsoft and Adobe wont let The Pirate Bay torrent their software, I'll keep downloading Windows and Photoshop to install them. I'm not making a profit, and the software they torrent is given to them free by the government, so downloading the swoftware in another way when the first way isn't available , i see it as being ok lol.
Obviously not a perfect analogy, but the concept of some "right" to infringe copyright is still the same between the two.

Well, I download a few shows to rewatch them.

I often toss them out then.

It's not for personal profit.

As for the ads, I either buy the product already or have no use for it.

If it's illegal to watch a a TV show that was once aired for 'free', then shoot me. :s

Well, I download a few shows to rewatch them.

I often toss them out then.

It's not for personal profit.

As for the ads, I either buy the product already or have no use for it.

If it's illegal to watch a a TV show that was once aired for 'free', then shoot me. :s

*boom headshot*

It does seem to be a touchy area. If I can record something that is given to me freely, whether I watch it on my DVR or on

my computer is my prerogative. The argument that the individual should be watching "time-shifted" material only on their

personal TV is a weak one. Is big brother watching everyone's tv set to make sure?

I often will forget or miss the half of a show, so I will find it online. Either a youtube-like site or download it, watch it, and dispose

of it. While some individuals out there will likely download shows to sell them as dvds, most people I think just want to catch

up on their show.

Well, I download a few shows to rewatch them.

I often toss them out then.

It's not for personal profit.

As for the ads, I either buy the product already or have no use for it.

If it's illegal to watch a a TV show that was once aired for 'free', then shoot me. :s

This. One way or another they're getting their money out of me. I don't see what the huge issue is. If I don't watch it on TV, but buy it on DVD later. They still aren't getting money from commercials.

Well, I download a few shows to rewatch them.

I often toss them out then.

It's not for personal profit.

As for the ads, I either buy the product already or have no use for it.

If it's illegal to watch a a TV show that was once aired for 'free', then shoot me. :s

Same here. There would be a lot of people who do just that, good luck taking legal action against millions of people.

To me its as simple as, TV programming is not going to rule my time. I watch what I want, when I want.

To me, there's a difference between whether something is illegal versus whether something is unethical.

1. Downloading TV shows available OTA: Illegal, but not unethical

2. Downloading TV shows available on cable channels you subscribe to: Illegal, but not unethical

3. Downloading TV shows available on cable channels you do not subscribe to: Illegal, somewhat unethical

At least, that's my opinion. For number 3, I feel that there's an exception if there is no way to purchase the show without purchasing the channel (e.g. True Blood episodes aren't available for purchase, so I'd have no problem downloading them).

Well not only that, I pay for cable each month. If I choose to watch my shows when they air or when I feel like it, that's my choice.

If I missed tonight's Stargate: Atlantis episode, I was "able" to watch it, but I was occupied playing GTA:IV. If it were to air again

as a repeat or I download, there is no difference. I still paid for that show to be available for me to watch.

By that logic all songs that have ever aired on the radio should also be free.

Oh, and if you're invited to a friends house to watch a movie, but decline, you should also be able to download that movie for free since you wouldn't have paid for it anyway, or you friend could have lent it to you.[/sarcasm]

Besides arn't there legal means to watch most shows you missed online? If you're only going to watch it once, why not watch the streaming version on the networks' website, and let them have their fair share of ad revenue? The economy is based on capitalism, if you don't support the companies that bring you the content, they'll just cancel the shows. And if you don't support capitalism, then you're a communist, and if you're a communist then the terrorists have won :shiftyninja:

Generalizing gets you nowhere. Simple because I stated my opinion doesn't in fact mean it applies to all situations.

Yes, a friend that owns Ironman and wants to watch it with me, yet I decline is a situation where I don't have the "right" to view it.

Same goes for internet radio. I can listen to free internet streams which are plentiful, however, I am not circumventing any measures

that are in place for subscription-based stations. I put up with the commercials on free internet radio and sit through the ads.

To me, there's a difference between whether something is illegal versus whether something is unethical.

1. Downloading TV shows available OTA: Illegal, but not unethical

2. Downloading TV shows available on cable channels you subscribe to: Illegal, but not unethical

3. Downloading TV shows available on cable channels you do not subscribe to: Illegal, somewhat unethical

At least, that's my opinion. For number 3, I feel that there's an exception if there is no way to purchase the show without purchasing the channel (e.g. True Blood episodes aren't available for purchase, so I'd have no problem downloading them).

There is no ethical police on the interwebz :p

btw, True Blood awesome. :cool:

I have no moral conviction downloading something like Heroes, Prison Break, or any other show that I would otherwise watch as it airs for the first time (for current seasons, not for past seasons). Almost every show I watch is available the next day on Hulu, so my only motivation to download the episodes would be to stream them to my 360 since PlayOn has been having Hulu issues for quite a while now, and I very likely won't be paying for the service once my trial has ended. Once I've watched the show, I no longer contain the file. Lost and The Office are an exception to that rule for differing reasons.

It's illegal plain and simple. Until recently in Australia it was illegal to even record a show off TV. I do it anyway because I want to see it now :p and waiting for it to air on Australian TV is just a waste of time (although Heroes Season 3 is airing here now so I'm just watching it on TV) and also I don't feel what I'm doing in stealing, as I plan to buy the DVD boxset away. It was what I've done in the past and what I will continue to do. However, the studios see it as revenue lose and treat those who do it as pirates....personally I don't see a problem, I buy it soon as it's released on DVD so it's not like they are losing a sale over it.

This topic is now closed to further replies.
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
  • Posts

    • Segra 1.6.2 by Razvan Serea Segra is a free, open-source OBS-powered game recorder offering fast gameplay capture, instant clips, AI highlights, deep game integration, and seamless uploads—perfect for gamers, streamers, and content creators. Lightweight, fast, zero bloat. Segra key features: Automatic Game Recording: Begin capturing gameplay the moment your game launches, with zero manual setup. Instant Clipping: Save important moments instantly using a customizable hotkey—perfect for highlights, montages, or quick shares. Segra AI Highlights: Let Segra automatically detect kills, assists, deaths, and key events to generate polished highlight reels without manual editing. Gameplay Uploads: Upload recordings and clips directly to Segra.tv for fast sharing and cloud access. Deep Game Integration: Enjoy advanced game-data tracking across hundreds of supported titles, enabling smart highlight generation and stat-informed clipping. High-Performance Capture: Record up to 4K at 144 FPS using OBS-powered technology with minimal performance impact, supporting NVENC, AMD VCE, and custom quality controls. Segra Editor: Edit recordings easily with timeline controls, segment management, and event-based navigation to build the perfect clip. Customization Options: Adjust hotkeys, output formats, storage paths, codecs, capture quality, and performance settings for a tailored recording experience. Segra 1.6.2 changelog: UI: Improved the transition from the loading skeleton to the real content card. Security: Added Segra.dll code signing and automatic VirusTotal upload. Settings: Fixed the settings header to highlight Account when scrolled to the top. Recording: Updated OBSKit.NET to 1.4.1. Download: Segra 1.6.2 | 74.5 MB (Open Source) View: Segra Homepage | Github | Screenshot Get alerted to all of our Software updates on Twitter at @NeowinSoftware
    • Hey Google, these are the Gemini features I want in 2026 by Aditya Tiwari Google Gemini has been around for over three years. The AI chatbot started its journey back in 2023 (as Bard) when ChatGPT was already a talk of the town. However, it quickly attracted criticism after misrepresenting facts about the James Webb Space Telescope. The search giant spent a year fine-tuning Bard before rebranding the chatbot and its underlying generative AI model to Gemini, drawing inspiration from NASA's first human spaceflight program. Note that Bard was initially powered by LaMDA and PaLM 2; Google has since added several new features and integrations to Gemini. That said, there is scope for improvement and a gap for new features. I have been using Gemini for a while now and have realized that the chatbot lacks several features, making it harder for me to research across topics. These are mostly function-over-form updates that can improve the overall experience. Delete individual messages from a conversation Image via DepositPhotos.com One good thing about Gemini is that it can maintain context throughout the conversation. But things might get chaotic when you want to ask a related question, but don't want it to be part of your conversation in the long run. You can't ask that related question in a fresh chat because Gemini will lose the active conversation context of what you're trying to research. If Google allowed you to delete individual question/answer pairs, you could simply ask about a sub-topic and remove it from the conversation to create a smooth flow of important stuff. Offline mode Image via DepositPhotos.com A big pain of using Gemini daily is that everything loads from the cloud. It takes time for your chats to appear, and you can't view your conversation history while offline. To get a better idea, you can open the Gemini app and see how it looks without an internet connection. While Gemini models run in the cloud, it wouldn't hurt if Google could store chats (at least the text part) on the device so we can refer to them when offline. Google can also offer a lightweight version of its AI model to help with basic drafting, summarization, and other tasks. It has the Gemini Nano model, which can perform on-device processing on Google Pixel, Samsung, and some other Android brands, but it's a system feature and not related to the cloud-based Gemini app. Make temporary chats permanent I can't thank Google enough for taking the time and effort to add incognito mode or temporary chat mode to the Gemini app. It lets you have conversations without worrying that the topics will end up in your chat history or used for model training (at least on paper). Google claims that it doesn't use your temporary chats to "personalize your Gemini experience or train Google’s AI models." However, the data is stored "up to 72 hours to respond to you and to process any feedback you choose to provide." That said, I often start researching something in a temporary chat, only to realize the chatbot's answer is good enough to refer to later. Sadly, Gemini doesn't have an option to make such temporary chats permanent. In other words, I won't be able to follow up on it if I close the temporary chat. I'm left with alternatives like copying the answers into notes or another app. My digital life will get a lot better if Gemini gets a button to make temporary chats permanent. Collapse answers for a cleaner view You're heavily invested in your research game and suddenly feel the need to go up in the chat to recall something. This is when the conversation thread starts to feel like an overwhelming, unending wall of questions and answers. What if Google added a way to collapse Q&A pairs in the Gemini chat thread? It would look quite clean and easy to navigate. You'll quickly get an overview of everything you have discussed with the chatbot. Add buttons to jump between messages Suggested mockup of the feature. This reminds me of a small but useful Gemini feature that Google could add to its chatbot: the ability to hop between prompts in a conversation. Just add simple up- and down-arrow buttons, similar to YouTube Shorts, so people can quickly scroll through the messages. A table of contents or Chat Overview It's hard to get a bird's-eye view of everything you have discussed with the chatbot during a lengthy conversation. This is where a table of contents, or Chat Overview, displayed at the top of the screen, possibly in a drop-down button, might come in handy. You'll be able to get an overview of the chat and jump between messages, serving as an alternative to the up/down arrow buttons. Temporary mode for Gemini Live Image: Google You can use Gemini Live to have real-time conversations with the chatbot, which feels like you're talking to someone in the same room. However, a downside is that Gemini Live doesn't work in Temporary Chat mode, so all your conversations end up in the chat history. Google should consider expanding the temporary chat mode to include Gemini Live. Default to a specific chat One thing that feels somewhat annoying to me is that Gemini always opens in a new chat, whether on web or mobile. Sometimes, you want to return to your last chat. Google can take cues from web browsers, which let you choose whether you want to go to a new tab or a specific web page(s). Gemini can also have options to default to a specific chat when reopened. That said, generative AI chatbots have endless possibilities given the vagueness of their work. You can mold them the way you want by attaching different connectors, adding custom instructions, and including source files. It remains to be seen what Google has in store for future updates and whether anything from this wishlist gets the green light. The search giant released a stream of new Gemini updates in recent months, including Gemini 3.5 Flash and Gemini Omni Spark, adding that it now has 13 products with more than a billion users each. What do you want to see in the Gemini app? Tell us in the comments.
    • Thank you for the post. Just a FYI that links to an outside site or promoting specific software is considered spamming here. Asking general questions is fine.
    • I have been thinking about AI detector tools as a software workflow rather than a single "AI score" widget. When someone pastes text or uploads a document, the UI can return a report with a probability-style score, sentence highlights, reliability notes, and limitations. The useful part is that it can point a reviewer toward passages worth reading again. The risky part is that a polished score can look more certain than it really is. For people who build or review web apps, what should happen before the user copies or exports that kind of report? The minimum I would expect is: A clear input boundary for pasted text versus document files. Limits shown near the workflow, including minimum text length and maximum file size. A report label that says the result is a signal, not proof of who wrote the text. Sentence highlights and evidence notes alongside the global score. Reliability notes when the sample is too short or lacks enough sentence variety. False-positive and false-negative caveats that remain visible in copied/exported summaries. I am trying to avoid the pattern where a clean report card becomes the whole product story. For AI detection, "review this evidence in context" seems more honest than "trust this score." Would you keep the warning text visible on every report, or make it collapsible so the main result stays easier to scan? Disclosure: I work on a small AI detector/reporting workflow, but I am intentionally not linking it here. I am asking about software and report design, not promoting a site.
  • Recent Achievements

    • Conversation Starter
      sumytbe earned a badge
      Conversation Starter
    • One Year In
      B4dM1k3 earned a badge
      One Year In
    • One Year In
      DarkWun earned a badge
      One Year In
    • Dedicated
      Almohandis earned a badge
      Dedicated
    • Dedicated
      JuvenileDelinquent earned a badge
      Dedicated
  • Popular Contributors

    1. 1
      +primortal
      507
    2. 2
      +Edouard
      181
    3. 3
      PsYcHoKiLLa
      86
    4. 4
      Michael Scrip
      78
    5. 5
      Steven P.
      76
  • Tell a friend

    Love Neowin? Tell a friend!