Is it legal to watch TV on the Internet?

More and more people decide to watch movies and TV series on the Internet. This is a very tempting option, as many websites now offer free content browsing via specially designed websites. The audience uses them more and more willingly, but often there are also doubts as to whether such a solution is legal. It is therefore worth paying attention to the individual pages that make movies and TV series available for free. Is it legal to watch them?

What is Web TV?

The term 'Internet TV' can be understood in two ways. First of all, it can be a station that, in addition to the normal TV signal allows its viewers to watch the channel via the Internet, for example, through the prepared applications or websites, such as Player or Ipla. However, there are now also programmes that transmit programmes exclusively via the Internet, without any traditional TV signal. A special case in point is the use of websites which do not belong to any television and do not provide their own content. What does this solution look like from a legal point of view?

Free TV on the Internet and the law

The Copyright and Related Rights Act, in particular Articles 23 and 116, has a direct connection with the discussed subject matter. The law in this respect is unambiguous. The use of such websites is punishable by fines or even imprisonment.

It is illegal to share an Internet program with others, so many people are trying to circumvent this right in some way. For example, there are cases in which administrators do not transmit programs themselves, but use the possibility of sharing the signal by their users. They also often resort to establishment outside the country, for example in countries where the law works differently.

The situation is similar in the case of websites related to torrents. An example is the creator of a well-known website Kickasstorrent, who was accused of copyright infringement worth more than a billion dollars. In Poland such situations also occurred, for example in the case of portals such as ekino.tv or seansik tv. The owners of these sites can be imprisoned for up to three years.

Which pages to avoid?

The rule is simple. If the station itself makes its own materials and TV program signal available on the Internet, we can watch them without any worries. Suspects are services that reach for other stations' programs. This is against Polish law, but it often does not discourage viewers, who often use such portals. Fear of being fined or punished is less than the desire to save money, and many people are also simply not aware of the possibility of any consequences. However, it is worth considering beforehand whether it is worth risking your money and the possibility of limiting the freedom to watch a film or series on the Internet.