The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines pirating as the unauthorized use of any other production, invention or concept that constitutes a copyright infringement. If you use an illegal streaming service, you are stealing from someone who has invested time and money in writing, filming or editing a film. Sure, there’s a moral dilemma there, but what about legally?
In recent years, the worldwide agencies have focused on trying to shut down illegal streaming and download sites. It represents the interests of rights holders, cinema owners and legal streaming services like Spotify and Netflix, where streaming is legal as royalties have been paid out, but it has not done much to prosecute, much to recover lost revenue or to deter others who might consider launching and running illegal websites or streaming services to get people to watch films.
Studios, independent producers and the unions have been pushing for at least a decade to get Congress to make the theft of video streams a criminal offense, just as copying and distributing copyrighted TV shows and movies is. Look, “Television has turned to streaming video,” as FCC Chairman Ajit Pai put it during his time at the FCC.
At the end of the day, though, pirated streaming is treated as a misdemeanor and illegal copying and distribution is counted as a separate criminal offence.
When Congress approved a $2 trillion stimulus a while back, there was something else included – a piece of legislation around our topic. That includes a handful of controversial copyright and trademark protections. Part of that package was the criminal stream bill authored by Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C. ).
Under the Protecting Lawful Streaming Act of 2020 (PLSA) the US Patent and Trademark Office allows the Department of Justice to cite providers of such egregious services (as opposed to users) with criminal charges. The law deals with illegal streaming under copyright law, but there have been fundamental changes to the law relating to illegal streaming as if it were a criminal offence. The new law expands criminal penalties for commercial benefits on a large scale and private financial gain from copyrighted material streaming.
You may also be charged if you illegally stream or download movies. While criminal prosecution of illegal streaming services and the downloading of films by end-users are widespread, the authors of films and the organizations they represent have been tracked down.
This is likely more likely if people who provide illegal online streaming services are prosecuted. For many people, computer viruses and lesser reputable streaming sites are a strong deterrent to legal action. Even if harsher penalties for illegal streaming and download are introduced, you are still likely to face action from the creators themselves or from the government if caught red-handed.
Don’t get us wrong, though, piracy involves making illicit copies of the music, games, software, electronic books and films protected by copyright and streaming them without permission, not just finding and watching the latest blockbuster that hasn’t even left the theaters yet.