So, is it illegal for you to watch a movie on your Smart TV? Again, as long as you are not downloading the movie, you are not violating any laws.Īlthough you are not breaking any laws when you watch a movie online, through a website that illegally provides the movie to you, you must be careful that you do not download the movie, or you could face a fine. Through Smart TVs, you can access websites that illegally allow you to watch movies. For example, Smart TVs come pre-loaded with apps like Netflix or you can load your own apps on it like your favourite internet browser. Smart TVs allow users to access online content on their televisions. Why? Well, under Canadian law, simply watching a movie online does not go against any laws. So, what does this mean for you as someone who uses the site to watch movies? As someone who just watches the movie online and does not download it, you are unlikely to face any penalties.

These websites are illegal providing the movie to you, and under Canadian law, these websites can be shut down. These websites generally do not have the permission of the studio to make the movie available online. However, there are websites where you can watch new (and old) movies on the internet for free. Therefore, watching a movie on Netflix or any other platform where you pay a subscription fee, raises very few legal concerns because Netflix has permission from the studio to show the movie to you. Netflix has permission from the studio to allow you to stream the movie through its platform. Panic may have set in and you might have started to think about the times when you watched a movie online through an illegal site.īefore we dive in, there is a difference between using a website like Netflix and a website where you do not pay a fee to watch movies.

I’m sure at some time or another, someone has told you a story about someone they know receiving a letter from a movie studio threatening to sue them for illegally watching their movie. Written by Brett Colvin So is it illegal to watch movies online? Oh, and did I mention watch them for free?

Before Netflix, Crave, HBO, and all the other pay-per-month streaming services available today, many of us would surf the internet looking for a website where we could watch movies online.

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