A debate concerning the legality of streaming U.S. Netflix in Canada arose in the wake of Simon Houpt’s article Even the Content Creators are Stealing Content (The Globe And Mail).
One of Houpt’s main arguments was that right holders for the shows are losing money when people are watching content from different regions that are not their own.
As Canadian lawyer Michael Geist explains it: this is simply not true.
To rights owners, it does not matter what region you view the show from as long as you view it. Their licensing rights are not based upon where people are watching shows from.
As Michael Geist says, most of the content on Netflix is similar between all regions, especially the shows made specifically for Netflix such as House of Cards. He also points out that neither the right holder nor Netflix have taken steps to abolish the services that allow people in various regions to access the U.S. Netflix content.
As a conclusion for this debate:
People can put up barriers between us and our shows but as the quote from Jurassic Park goes: “Life always finds a way“.
Learn how to access Netflix USA from anywhere in the world.
Learn NowSources:
– Canadians That Access U.S. Netflix May Be in a Legal Grey Zone, But They Are Not Stealing
– Even the content creators are stealing content, The Globe And Mail
See Also
- What’s a VPN, are they legal and does Netflix care Canadians use them?, The Globe And Mail
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