THE LAW AND WHAT IT MEANS

What is the law regarding illegal content distribution?

Running a website or service that provides unauthorized access to films, TV shows and/or live sports streams is a serious criminal offence under UK copyright law. Courts treat this as commercial-scale copyright infringement, and operators can be prosecuted not just for copyright infringement, but also for fraud and money laundering.

Operators of pirate sites may be subject to penalties that include fines, domain seizures, and prison sentences. And it’s not just the pirate operators who break the law — accessing content from these sites is also illegal. Even if you don’t download the content, streaming pirated content from these sites can also amount to copyright infringement.

The safe and legal option is always to provide

Is it dangerous to get content illegally?

Every time you get content illegally, whether it’s films, sports, TV shows, music or games, you can be exposed to dangerous malware. By sharing your data on illegal websites, you are at the risk of credit card fraud and identity theft. Children are often exposed to harmful content from ad pop-ups on illegal websites.

Consuming pirated content online does more than spoil the fun – it presents real-life risks for content creators and yourself.

Why are there laws against piracy?

From sound technicians to make-up artists, there are millions of jobs in the creative industry. Copyright and content protection frameworks are in place to protect these people and give them the chance to continue creating the content we all love.

Pirate website operators are increasingly tied to organised crime and money laundering on a global scale. Consuming illegal content is not a victimless crime — it plays directly into the hands of global criminal networks that are active in even more dangerous activities than intellectual property theft.

Why is it important to protect content?

The UK creative industries are buzzing with talent. We’re talking about authors, musicians, and filmmakers, as well as camera operators, sound technicians, costume designers… all of those who work hard to create the content that we love.

Creative ideas are unique. They need encouragement, dedication and protection. Creators must be rewarded for their artistic, intellectual and financial investments.

Intellectual property industries, like film, music, television and computer software, are central to the health and stability of the UK economy. The UK’s creative industry supports around 2.8 million UK jobs each year, generates about £18 billion in exports around the world and contributes about £10 million per hour to the UK economy. Strong intellectual property rights foster creativity, innovation, and investment in new talent.

Technology has revolutionised how we interact with creative content. Piracy threatens our creative industries by pulling revenue away from those who created the content. Watching, reading, listening and playing from genuine sites ensure that the people who created the content you love get paid for doing so.

How we consume our content affects everyone involved. The creative industries need protection. The easiest way of doing that, is to Get It Right From a Genuine Site.