But is streaming unlicensed content online illegal? Jim Gibson, director of the Intellectual Property Institute at the University of Richmond law school, told Business Insider that streaming online content breaks the law in only two cases.
“When the user downloads even part of a file — called “pseudo-streaming” — it counts as a copy of copyrighted material, which is illegal. And when the user streams content as a “public performance” — namely, when it’s shown to a substantial number of people outside the normal family circle and its close acquaintances — it also constitutes a copyright violation.”
Outside of these cases, accessing unlicensed streamed content is generally legal.
On the other side of the screen, however, uploading or posting unlicensed streamed content is illegal — even if it’s free, according to Gibson. “That’s the most basic part of copyright — protection of your work. When someone uploads a video online, they’re literally making a copy,” he said.
Online streaming sites avoid trouble by not hosting their own content, instead acting as a search engine for links to streamed content, usually embedded from a secondary site. In that case, determining accountability requires the “inducement rule,” a test created in a 2005 Supreme Court ruling which states that a company or website can only be held accountable for distributing unlicensed content if it clearly encourage users to infringe a copyright.
