Q&A: Copyright on the Internet
Copyright on the Internet
Question
Hello Rabbi.
For a long time this issue has been unclear to me, and I’d finally like to understand it and know how to act — is watching movies via direct streaming on the internet forbidden? And is there a difference between old movies (say, from the seventies and earlier) and new movies? And are there sites from which it is forbidden and others from which it is not forbidden? Downloading or direct streaming? etc. I’d be happy to hear your answer.
Thank you in advance, Rabbi.
Answer
Jewish law is not relevant here. In monetary law, the civil law is what determines things. Ask a lawyer.
Discussion on Answer
I wrote that theft is determined by the law.
If there’s a conflict, say in family law, where according to the law So-and-so is required to pay Ms. So-and-so 100,000 NIS, but according to Jewish law that is outright theft (that is, it would be forbidden to obligate him at all)
. does what you said — that theft is determined by the law — apply there as well? Meaning, does the halakhic theft (what was taken from So-and-so by making him pay contrary to Jewish law) get overridden because the law determined it that way?
It’s impossible to discuss this without an example.
And what about the issue of theft?