Is downloading a movie from a torrent legal?

Submit Cancel. Report Abuse. File sharing is the practice of distributing or providing access to digital media, such as computer. When Judge Paz Aldecoa declared it legal to download indiscriminately in Spain, if done. If you torrent copyrighted movies and music, there is a serious possibility you WILL be caught and face legal action. You should, therefore, take precautions to hide your location and identity, because torrenting can be illegal and against the law! Are torrents legal?

Already exists. In United States of America. If the torrent is of a commercially produced movie or televisionprogram, then seeding the torrent is illegal. UTorrent is the official torrent client from the creators of the BitTorrent protocol.

It is proprietary—not open source—software maintained by a legal US company. Like BitTorrent, the software itself is legal, although it can be used for piracy. If you are downloading or viewing illegal content, it can be a security risk since many of the sites hosting the content are supported by malware. The websites listed below allow users to watch TV shows through their site, by way of streaming video.

Some of these sites provide the streaming TV at no cost, but available content may be limited. Other sites require a small subscription fee to watch all available TV shows or a subscription to a cable or satellite service. You may need to log in with your cable or satellite service account to verify your eligibility to watch TV shows through the site, but no additional costs are required.

Downloading a Copyrighted TV show or movie that you have not paid for or received permission to download is considered Copyright infringement and illegal. Two popular devices that support many of these online programs are the Roku and the Xbox. Hulu and Netflix are two common programs included on Smart TVs. For many of us, torrent files and the BitTorrent protocol are synonyms with movie and software piracy. We only need to choose our movies carefully.

Let's see how to download movies for free with torrent files, and how can we make sure we are entirely legal. To download movies, programs, or anything else with torrent files, we need a torrent client. It is the program that will open the torrent file, manage the necessary connections, and make sure the files download without any data corruption.

On PCsteps, we have already seen BitComet, which combines a download manager and a torrent client. For this guide, though, we will be using qBittorrent, which is one of the most popular and easy to use clients. It is also available on Linux.

The qBittorrent installer won't attempt to change our browser's homepage and the search engine. Neither will it download any third-party apps and adware. If we don't get the tab, there was probably something wrong with the Python Installation. We can try downloading Python from python. These kinds of programs can slow down our system to a crawl, and increase the energy consumption. Yes, there are ways to remove these ads. However, there are better torrent clients, free, open source, and without third-party crapware.

A great advantage of qBittorrent is the search function. We no longer need to visit shady torrent sites, full of ads, pop-ups, fake download links, and whatnot.

If we want to watch the version of 'Night of the Living Dead' in p quality, we can just search for it. Seeders are users, just like us, that have already downloaded the full movie, and they are now seeding it for us to download. According to Dutch law ISPs can only be ordered to provide personal subscriber data if it is plausible that an unlawful act occurred, and if it is shown beyond a reasonable doubt that the subscriber information will identify the person who committed the infringing act.

In Germany court specifically considered the right to privacy and in March the German Federal Constitutional Court ruled that ISPs could only give out IP address subscription information in case of a 'serious criminal investigation'.

The court furthermore ruled that copyright infringement did not qualify as a serious enough offense. Subsequently, in April , the Bundestag German parliament approved a new law requiring ISPs to divulge the identity of suspected infringers who infringe on a commercial scale. The law, which would enter into effect on 1 April , would allow copyright holders to request the IP addresses and names of copyright infringement suspects in order to take legal action against them.

The copyright holders, though, should present sufficient evidence of harm to justify the release of information regarding the Internet subscribers. Ruling on a case involving a copyright holder who employed a third party to collect IP addresses of suspected copyright infringers, the Italian Data Protection Authority ruled in February that the systematic monitoring peer-to-peer activities for the purpose of detecting copyright infringers and suing them is prohibited.

In October , France's highest constitutional court approved the HADOPI law, a 'three-strikes law'; [19] however, the law was revoked on 10 July by the French Government because the punitive penalties imposed on copyright infringers was considered to be disproportionate. In May , Irish internet provider Eircom have announced they will cut off the broadband connection of subscribers suspected of copyright infringement on peer-to-peer file sharing networks.

Initially, customers will be telephoned by Eircom to see if they are aware of the unauthorized downloads. When customers are identified for a third time they will lose their internet connection for 7 days, if caught for a fourth time they will lose their internet connection for a year. File sharing in Japan is notable for both its size and sophistication.

The sophistication of Japan's filesharing is due to the sophistication of Japanese anti-filesharing. Unlike most other countries, filesharing copyrighted content is not just a civil offense, but a criminal one, with penalties of up to ten years for uploading and penalties of up to two years for downloading. In June , the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission has ordered the blocking of several websites including The Pirate Bay and several file-hosting websites via a letter dated 30 May to all Malaysian ISPs for violating Section 41 of the Copyright Act , which deals with pirated content.

Mexican law does not currently address non-commercial file sharing, although Mexican legislators have considered increasing penalties for unauthorized file sharing. Broadband usage is increasing in Mexico, and Internet cafes are common, [26].

Due to the relative lack of authorized music distribution services in Mexico, filesharing continues to dominate music access.

According to Dutch law reproduction of a literary, science, or art work is not considered a violation on the right of the creator or performing artist when all of the following conditions have been met:.

Since , following a decision by the Ministry of Justice, there is an organization which guarantees that artists and rights holders get a compensation for copies of their works made for private use. File sharing in North Korea is done by hand with physical transport devices such as computer disk drives, due to lack of access to the Internet.

It is illegal, due to regime attempts to control culture. Because official channels are heavily dominated by government propaganda and outside media is banned, illegally traded files are a unique view into the outside world for North Koreans. In March , South Korea passed legislation that gave internet users a form of three strikes for unlawful file sharing with the intention of curbing online theft.

As the number of cases of unauthorized sharing increases, the proportion of youth involved has increased. As file shares are monitored, they are sent messages instructing them to stop. If their file sharing continues, their internet connection may be disconnected for up to six months. In a series of cases, Spanish courts have ruled that file sharing for private use is legal. In , the record industry's attempts to criminalize file sharing were thwarted when Judge Paz Aldecoa declared it legal to download indiscriminately in Spain, if done for private use and without any intent to profit, [34] [35] and the head of the police's technology squad has publicly said 'No pasa nada.

You can download whatever you want with eMule. But don't sell it. The Spanish Supreme Court has ruled that personal data associated with an IP address may only be disclosed in the course of a criminal investigation or for public safety reasons. It has been reported that Spain has one of the highest rates of file-sharing in Europe. Record labels would have it that this has had a negative impact on the industry, with investment drying up, according to IFPI head John Kennedy.

In , for instance, 10 new Spanish artists appeared in the top 50 album chart, but in not a single new Spanish artist featured in the same chart. Album sales dropped by two-thirds over a period of five years leading up to I think it's a real shame that people in authority don't see the damage being done.

The number of concerts doubled from 71, in to , in , and the number of people attending concerts increased from Despite the troubles weathered by the entertainment industry, file sharing and torrent websites were ruled legal in Spain in March The judge responsible for the court ruling stated that ' P2P networks are mere conduits for the transmission of data between Internet users, and on this basis they do not infringe rights protected by Intellectual Property laws '.

On 20 September , the Spanish government approved new laws that will take effect at the beginning of The approved legislation will mean that website owners who are earning 'direct or indirect profit,' such as via advertising links, from pirated content can be imprisoned for up to six years.

Peer-to-peer file-sharing platforms and search engines are exempt from the laws. Since January , Vodafone Spain blocks thepiratebay. The Digital Economy Bill proposed that internet service providers ISPs issue warnings by sending letters to those downloading copyrighted files without authorization. Following this, the bill proposed that ISPs slow down or even suspend internet access for repeat offenders of unauthorized file sharing. The bill aimed to force internet service providers to disclose the identities of those offenders as well as making conditions for the regulation of copyright licensing.

The Digital Economy Bill incorporated a graduated response policy despite the alleged file sharer not necessarily having to be convicted of copyright offences.

The high penalty is considered to be proportionate to the harm caused to UK industries. The Act was seen as controversial, and potentially creating serious repercussions for both file sharers and internet service providers. Conversely, the Liberal Democrat party spokesman for Culture and Media claimed the bill was reckless and dangerous stating that children could unwittingly be file sharing causing an entire family to lose their internet connection.

In addition to this, there was concern that hackers may access internet connections to download files and leave the bill payer responsible. Specific concerns raised included:. The bill provoked protests in many forms. The Guardian reported that hundreds were expected to march outside the House of Commons on 24 March Formed in and intending to enter candidates in the UK general election, the Pirate Party advocates reform to copyright and patent laws and a reduction in government surveillance. The Code which would implement these sections of the Act was never passed into law by Parliament, and no action was taken on it after around The Digital Economy Act updates the anti-infringement provisions of existing laws, creates or updates criminal copyright breach provisions, and provides for a wider range of sentencing for criminal infringement.

In Sony Corp. Universal Studios, U. Decades later, this case became the jumping-off point for all peer-to-peer copyright infringement litigation. Napster , F. Here, the 9th Circuit considered whether Napster was liable as a secondary infringer. First, the court considered whether Napster was contributorily liable for copyright infringement.

To be found contributorily liable, Napster must have engaged in 'personal conduct that encourages or assists the infringement. The standard applied by the court was whether Napster 'has the right and ability to supervise the infringing activity and also has a direct financial interest in such activities.

The next major peer-to-peer case was MGM v. Grokster , U. They need more than a warning and a record of you downloading something to persecute you, if it ever even gets to that. At one point I had that software on my mac but now I have the newer version I am an expat who lives in China.

Over the past few years I have torrented about one terabyte of movies, music, and TV shows which I then copied onto a removable hard drive upon download completion. I plan to return to the U. My question is, is there a way for the government to track my torrents to my removable hard drive? They may confiscate them no charges, depending on the country and just send you on your merry way. And yes, I did. I feel spied on. Their obligation was to tell me that they received complaints from someone representing the copyright holder.

I thought it was only illegal to do the coping and sharing of files. Guess I better stop downloading. Thanks for the info. All of you — just go check out Seedboxes — been using them for ages.

Super fast, easy, simple. You can access from anywhere in the world, even mobile phones. You can stream the stuff after you download it if you have to. I learned from my son and it is simple. You are not so clever as you may think. At this point it is a matter of ethics and moral responsibility. If you are downloading something that the public has to purchase buy you are stealing. No more torrents, no more media theft.

Stop it. It is not worth it. Though original software is for free but some of its contents are paid version and the torrent file which I downloaded was not on most of the torrents site so will it be easier for me to be get arrested. And If torrenting is illegal so why are the downloaders arrested, I think the one who uploads it should be arrested.

I circumvented it by using onion routing. Leave the innocent people alone and go after the real bad guys. Should this worry me?? Was it an email? Did it contain your IP address and a time stamp, and the file you were downloading? Or was it just saying how much you have to pay and how many hours you have?

These are questions you should ask in the process of scrutinizing an email. Interpol usually deals with maritime piracy, not digital piracy. And yes it had a time frame which was counting down from 48 hours. They had my IP address and they even knew my location and the user name of my computer. So I immediately disconnected my internet on all accounts and went into safe mode, using system restore to get my computer working again… So getting to a conclusion this is possibly, maybe, just someone trying to scare me?

My real question is what should I do now? Or should I also get rid of any and all items, maybe even the hard drive I was using? Seems to me like the F. Makes up for being illegal no? In some countries its very difficult to buy Original DVDs of movies, games and music etc.

So, living in a country where the original content is not available in the shops, what do you recommend people should do? Pay 1USD for the pirated content available in the markets. I have not heard of any law that stops pirated content to be sold in the shops in the country im talking about.. Or may be there is a law but im not aware of it.

Just food for thought. At first? However, they can get clear evidence that you downloaded them, and that could be enough for a lawsuit. Usually, cases of piracy are tried in civil court, although I have heard of countries in which it was moved or initiated through the penal system. Very few people get caught, but I recommend not risking it if you are afraid.

Chances are you might. Also i feel that i am addicted to downloading torrents. The longer you do this, though, the higher your chances are. Most people use this. How can we get caught it? If i download it from example Ipad and they come to the door and just hide the Ipad and turn off can they find it then :D?

Im moving from Croatia to Germany next week so wondering how to dl torrent and be safe. Im downloading torrent to some Franch server justseed. Is that safe enough? What do you suggest? Hi guys, Im moving from Croatia to Germany next week so wondering how to dl torrent and be safe. I cannot speculate on this, since this is a highly sensitive matter that could have legal implications. I am asking if this is legal what I am doing since the torrent is being downloaded to franch server and I just dl completed file with out any sharing to my mac?

The same can be said for German law. Hello, I live in Bangladesh. I know torrent is legal here since everybody download via torrent and nothing happens.

I downloaded over 2 TB of movies and tv shows and copied everything in a hard drive. I will go to california for university within a couple of months and take the hard drive full of movies with me.

Will I get caught if I watched theses torrent downloaded videos from the hard drive over there in my pc. Another thing is are streaming websites for tv shows available in usa such as watchseries. If it has pirated films, only you would know that. To be safe, I tried the site you mentioned from a remote computer in the United States, and it worked fine.

Will the customs not check the hard drive or DVD one is carrying? How safe is it to carry a hard disk into US?

Junaid makes a good point. Do I take my external hard drive and laptop with me in my carry on bag or do I put my external hard drive in my suit case? Do US customs check the contents of my external hard drive and laptop? The internet, the final frontier, these are the downloads from those bold enough to share what no man has shared before. What is any law enforcement group going to do really…. They cant say you did it, only that it was done using your internet connection. You could claim a virus did it on your computer.

Basically i couldnt imagine any court deciding that based on your ownership of an internet service policy that you are responsible for things downloaded without knowing that you were the one to download it. That would be like saying that you are responsible for a car crash when your car was stolen just because you owned it, this shit wont ever make it through the system based on expense and the fact that they cant pick and choose who they want the prosecute they cant ignore part of the list and send different parts of it to gaol, that would be discrimination.

If you are concerned with the ethics behind it then consider that you basically still pay the full amount to see the movie at the cinemas.

Paying the full price to watch the movie once and then paying the full price to get the movie to watch again is a scam anyway. As for the torrent software, you do not have to delete it. There are cases when downloading certain things through Torrent is either legal or permissibly decriminalized. I can tell you more details if you want to know. The files that were downloaded must be deleted in order for you to clear yourself of any probable cause for infringement.

Most likely, nothing will happen. But if you want to completely clear yourself of any wrongdoing, eliminate anything that may show signs you still possess the copyrighted material.

Thank you very much for your reply! As far as I can see, everything is copyrighted.. Works of art that are either in the public domain music, movies, etc. I think that for the US, the author has to have been dead for at least 70 years. Syria has copyright law here. The government there has many more things to worry about than someone downloading music, software, or films illegally. I have watched 20 movies in the last few days. I learn some tricks from experts for the ppz that have problems with downloading from torrents.

If you can, get a 2nd laptop. Torrents are illegal and they are all digital copies, so digital copies are also illegal so when you buy a dvd and they give you a digital copy it is also illegal. If you make copies and sell them that I can see would be very illegal. What I do is exactly like streaming view it and forget it. I downloads torrents such as :- Tv Series Game of thrones , Games CoD , Movies etc from pirate bay I just search the thing I want , looks for a better quality and seeds and download it via Utorrent.

Is it Illegal? And is pirate bay illegal in bangladesh? Hello everyone. To keep it real, yes torrenting is illegal.

Using utorrent, bit-torrent, and all the other programs will definitely get you in trouble. My service provider turned off my internet and sent a letter in the mail a few days after my internet was shut off. I was mad when I thought my router was broken. I talked to my service provider and they told me that there was illegal downloading being performed that was being monitored.

They even knew that I downloaded a movie 4 months prior to the shut off of my internet. Save your money and pay for what you want no matter how bad you want a program, music, or to watch a video and delete it after you watched it.

If you dont believe me, read what the privacy of what information they gather and what these Antivirus programs do with your personal information after it scans your computer for viruses and malware.

Its too easy now and days to get thrown in jail. Especially from downloading a few of your favorite programs. Save that money and buy it. I think if your country does not forbid you to download torrent and you use it for private use, then it may be legal? It is so easy to use. Just paste the URL to it and it will download the movie with high speed.