# Streaming Sites - Legitimate or Piracy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 30, 2014, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streaming-sites-legitimate-or-piracy/694402 "2014-07-30T05:42:55Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![richw211](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@richw211](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/richw211)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streaming-sites-legitimate-or-piracy/694402/1 "2014-07-30T05:42:55Z")
I recently looked into my options for online movie streaming sites and stumbled upon several free streaming sites. Are these for real? How can one determine if a site is legitimate & legal vs. piracy? ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streaming-sites-legitimate-or-piracy/694402/2 "2014-07-30T05:51:43Z")
A basic rule: if it offers copyrighted material for free … it is almost certainly NOT legitimate. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 8:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streaming-sites-legitimate-or-piracy/694402/3 "2014-07-30T08:14:17Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > A basic rule: if it offers copyrighted material for free … it is almost certainly NOT legitimate. Unless the website has a direct connection with the copyright holders. The obvious example is a CBS show on [CBS.com](http://CBS.com). Less obvious would be something like Hulu. Comedy Central shows were at one point an outlier, but they all now are on [cc.com](http://cc.com). Note that most of these legitimate free websites will show traditional front roll and mid-roll ads. I’m not even aware of one that does the popover style ad. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streaming-sites-legitimate-or-piracy/694402/4 "2014-07-30T15:02:49Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > A basic rule: if it offers copyrighted material for free … it is almost certainly NOT legitimate. You mean, like almost all music and other professionally-produced content on YouTube? And other sites that offer links to YouTube (including this site)? I wish the OP had qualified the question, as to whether his concern was with the legality, or the morality of the issue, which would be germane to my response. If I want to watch a live sports event that all legitimate providers refuse to offer me, what is the moral qualm about watching it on a site that makes the effort to deliver it to me? How do you address the “ethics” of my local providers, who, immune to any meaningful challenge, take it upon themselves to deny me the right to watch what they cannot profitably present for their own gain? ---
**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streaming-sites-legitimate-or-piracy/694402/5 "2014-07-30T15:13:39Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > You mean, like almost all music and other professionally-produced content on YouTube? And other sites that offer links to YouTube (including this site)? > > I wish the OP had qualified the question, as to whether his concern was with the legality, or the morality of the issue, which would be germane to my response. > > If I want to watch a live sports event that all legitimate providers refuse to offer me, what is the moral qualm about watching it on a site that makes the effort to deliver it to me? How do you address the “ethics” of my local providers, who, immune to any meaningful challenge, take it upon themselves to deny me the right to watch what they cannot profitably present for their own gain? You are not entitled to their content simply because it exists. Or at least that would be my argument. I personally may or might not agree with that sentiment 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2014, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streaming-sites-legitimate-or-piracy/694402/6 "2014-07-30T22:19:22Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > I wish the OP had qualified the question, as to whether his concern was with the legality, or the morality of the issue, which would be germane to my response. He did qualify the question. He asked about legality. > [@jtur88](#): > > If I want to watch a live sports event that all legitimate providers refuse to offer me, what is the moral qualm about watching it on a site that makes the effort to deliver it to me? How do you address the “ethics” of my local providers, who, immune to any meaningful challenge, take it upon themselves to deny me the right to watch what they cannot profitably present for their own gain? > [@Kinthalis](#): > > You are not entitled to their content simply because it exists. > > Or at least that would be my argument. I personally may or might not agree with that sentiment 😉 **Moderator Note** Since this is GQ, let’s confine this thread to how to determine if content is legal or not. The ethics of the issue are something to be discussed in GD. If you want to discuss that, open a new thread in that forum. This goes for everyone. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streaming-sites-legitimate-or-piracy/694402/7 "2014-07-31T00:13:31Z")
nm. ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [July 31, 2014, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/streaming-sites-legitimate-or-piracy/694402/8 "2014-07-31T00:21:11Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > A basic rule: if it offers copyrighted material for free … it is almost certainly NOT legitimate. No. If the movies are currently available in theaters, on Pay per View, or HBO/Showtime it’s unlikely to be legitimate. If it’s several years old–the type of stuff you see on TV stations late at night and there are plenty of ads–it’s probably legitimate.