[Librarian]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kamen rider bara

I know a lot of us use other sites to watch Toku Drama and I was wondering, is this illegal? Are we giving money to the uploaders who do it or not?

In the states at least, distribution without permits/rights is the offending/illegal act.

So streaming is technically legal for the end watcher. It's the streaming service/platform and uploader that are the offenders by having provided the "illegal distribution" of said material.

This is why torrents and other avenues are problematic. As you are uploading, you are distributing, which is the illegal act based on US laws. This also counts for public viewings to audiences too without said rights. Like a projector in the backyard etc. Downloading itself technically isn't illegal in the states. Uploading is. Same goes for music really. The file sharers that were hit with the lawsuits that Pepsi helped them pay for, were all users that were sharing what they had downloaded. Each country has their own laws associated, so I can only speak about US law on this matter as it's the one I'm familiar with.

As for companies that look the other way. That's a whole other thing that's based on many factors. Those that profit off of them illegally is a big one though which is why Ytube gets hit so hard since it's lost revenues. But otherwise they do tend to turn a blind eye to many fansub groups because of the extra merchandise it sells and audience avenues it opens up in broader areas to create hype to likely sell the rights to those areas which is increased revenues.

For example, the complete subbed DVD sets we see now are directly because of the proliferation of the material thanks to fansubs creating demand.