copyright questions ???

[ilker]

Assalamu alaikum brothers and sisters,

What do you think about the copyrighted materials on the internet ? Is it "always" stealing ? or are there any exceptions ?

For example:

-downloading content from torrent sites ?

-reading or downloading scanned papers or books to study (if we have no idea that the author gave his/her consent) ?

-watching movies or tv series on some websites online ?

-downloading or listening to music online ?

etc...


 

[Nura]

Salam

Knowledge, especially knowledge about God and nature was revealed by God so that it can be shared. Prophets were discouraged from keeping secret and hidden the knowledge that is revealed to them. So were priests and learned men discouraged from hogging the limelight as the only ones with knowledge and restricting access to knowledge.

God discourages us from following ideologies of which we have no knowledge. And any decision or action should be well thoughtout. Moreover, we are asked to follow people who ask no fee from us. There is wisdom in this. When money or livelihood becomes an aspect to consider, intentions become rather impure as restricting access, thus regulating supply of knowledge/product gives the creator or knowledgeable person more leverage and an opportunity to capitalise from it. This was one of the reasons behind creating the copyright laws. Capitalising from controlling access to created content.

But this is also a creator's right. He/she can choose to restrict access or offer his products, services freely. We have to respect that. If we do not, then we are breaking law, creating mischief in land which is not the conduct expected from a muslim. Not following copyright laws can be equated to stealing and also not paying dues for using a  product/service not offered freely is morally questionable.

Sometimes depending on the situation, u might have to resort to downloading softwares which are not sold in your country in shops via torrent sites. In my country students have to do it. We do not have any other option. So, we will be judged by God accordingly, but ideally this should be avoided.

Downloading, essentially making another copy, of copyrighted material is downright illegal. And should be avoided. It is tantamount to stealing.

Apps which allow u to listen to music using the internet are fine. U r essentially paying for it. Just verify whether the apps are legal or not. Basically, there are no free lunches, if u are paying for the app or paying a fee of some sort, chances are this is legal. If not, then it has a high chance of being illegal. If u r not paying, somebody else is paying for it, most of the times the creators, by not getting their dues. Nothing is free.

If u do not know the copyright status, try to find out, if it is not known to anybody, u decide what u want to do. But I would advice not to download anything illegaly.

Watching movies by streaming them online is not illegal, hence can be done. So far streaming a movie has not been classified as a criminal offence. But hosting one on your website without permission from creator is copyright infringement, and is illegal. The websites which host these videos are doing the illegal part but streaming and watching them is still not illegal.

I would advise to study copyright law, it is not that complicated. And just not do illegal things if u can make do without doing them. Have faith in Allah, He knows all our limitations and our intentions. He will judge us accordingly. Do not complicate your life. Strive to become a productive citizen who does not do illegal things, unless u r cornered and have no other viable option. Do ur best, that's all we can do really. Good luck and God bless!

[ilker]

Salam nura,

Alhamdulillah such a nice explanation. Thanks. However i just couldn't get this one, you said:

"Watching movies by streaming them online is not illegal, hence can be done. So far streaming a movie has not been classified as a criminal offence. But hosting one on your website without permission from creator is copyright infringement, and is illegal. The websites which host these videos are doing the illegal part but streaming and watching them is still not illegal."

While those websites are doing an illegal action by hosting those videos, how is watching them not illegal ? I'm asking this because sometimes i want to watch tv series that are not aired in my country. So i search for them online but i am generally not comfortable about it being illegal or not. So I wanted to learn your opinion.

[Nura]

Salam

Streaming does not create another permanent copy of created content. Till now no country has termed streaming for personal viewing, ( not projecting a movie for multiple people to watch) as illegal. So u can stream. The moment streaming will be declared illegal in the country u live in ( or if u want to be extra careful, anywhere on earth), if u stream movies or shows then, u will create mischief on land since u will be breaking law of the land. Till then u r safe. A lot of things are not religious in nature, but illegal to do such as breaking copyright laws. Muslims could have easily overlooked such laws of the land saying they are not from God, but, God has asked us to follow the law of the country we reside in, so that we do not become a burden to society, Alhamdullilah. Not everything needs to be banned by God. Humans are given some situations, where we are given the freedom to collectively decide what is right for the society and time frame we live in. This is a mercy.

[ilker]

Confusing topic actually. Sometimes when i want to watch foreign tv series on the internet, I see some copyright complaints and restrictions. There are tons of watch-online sites especially for tv series which are not featured in some countries, so that people can watch them. Is this kind of "streaming" illegal ?

[Nura]

Salam

No this kind of streaming is not illegal yet.