I'm discussing with a person I know about him who could get a lawsuit from a big company for copyright issues and multiple violations. Please help.

[reemp91]

Hey there, I'm discussing with a person I know about him who could get a lawsuit from a big company for copyright issues and multiple violations.
What he's doing (I won't go into many details) imagine owning a premium account on Netflix (Just an example) and pulling all the info from their servers (Show, movies, etc.) using the premium account he owns and making a website that uses their servers with his premium account to offer these shows, movies, etc. for free. Please just get me something to make sense in his eyes to explain to him how serious that could be. He's thinking because it's being pulled from their own servers, it's alright.

 

[Just Blue]

Hey there, I'm discussing with a person I know about him who could get a lawsuit from a big company for copyright issues and multiple violations.
What he's doing (I won't go into many details) imagine owning a premium account on Netflix (Just an example) and pulling all the info from their servers (Show, movies, etc.) using the premium account he owns and making a website that uses their servers with his premium account to offer these shows, movies, etc. for free. Please just get me something to make sense in his eyes to explain to him how serious that could be. He's thinking because it's being pulled from their own servers, it's alright.

What state?

 

[adjusterjack]

He's thinking because it's being pulled from their own servers, it's alright.

There are some people who can never be convinced that they are wrong. If you haven't been able to convince him by now, you aren't going to. Give it up and let him suffer the consequences when he gets caught.

 

[FlyingRon]

Everything will be fine until one of the sensitive content owners (like Disney or WB) finds out and chases him down.

I had a guy (he was even the corporate security officer) decide to start streaming illicit content from one of our office machines. He found himself on the street in short order when the providers started knocking at our door.

 

[Just Blue]

FYI: Per a p.m. I received from the OP, this "friend" is in some unknown country...not in the States.

 

[quincy]

Hey there, I'm discussing with a person I know about him who could get a lawsuit from a big company for copyright issues and multiple violations.
What he's doing (I won't go into many details) imagine owning a premium account on Netflix (Just an example) and pulling all the info from their servers (Show, movies, etc.) using the premium account he owns and making a website that uses their servers with his premium account to offer these shows, movies, etc. for free. Please just get me something to make sense in his eyes to explain to him how serious that could be. He's thinking because it's being pulled from their own servers, it's alright.

If your friend is not in the US, your friend can still find himself in a lot of very costly legal trouble. Here is a link to 17 USC 506 with the law on criminal copyright infringement, which is charged as a federal crime when the infringement is intentional and done with full knowledge that infringement is occurring:

https://www.justice.gov/archives/jm/criminal-resource-manual-1847-criminal-copyright-infringement-17-usc-506a-and-18-usc-2319

The US Justice Department generally only files criminal charges when the infringement is substantial and involves a great amount of money. It sounds like your friend’s operation might be one the Justice Department could take interest in.

Even without criminal charges, the statutory civil penalties can be as high as $150,000 per infringed work when the infringement is willful. Every copyright holder whose works were infringed can file lawsuits seeking to collect these statutory damages, or actual losses suffered by them by your friend’s enterprise, or the profits made off the works infringed by your friend.

I suggest you tell your friend - wherever in the world he is located - that he should search out a good copyright defense attorney.

 

[PayrollHRGuy]

Netflix is smarter than you are giving them credit for. They know what IP addresses are streaming.

 

[quincy]

It does not take all that much for copyright holders to discover infringers. What the copyright holder decides to do about the infringement is a question mark.

What a copyright holder decides to do depends on the infringed material, how the infringed material is discovered and where it is discovered, the value of the material infringed, who the copyright holder is ... a lot of different factors play into how a copyright holder will react to infringement.

A DMCA takedown notice in the US is a cheap and easy way to remove infringing material from its locations online. An infringement suit over US federally registered material often makes financial sense because of the statutory damages that are available. And the more prominent the copyright holder, the more likely a cease and desist letter, a settlement demand letter, and an infringement lawsuit against the infringer will be.

You don’t mess with large companies (like Disney) and expect to walk away unscathed.

 

[zddoodah]

I'm discussing with a person I know about him who could get a lawsuit from a big company for copyright issues and multiple violations.

Huh?

My initial reaction was that you might be saying is that you know someone whom you believe might have a viable copyright infringement claim against some company. However, now I think you're saying that someone you know is committing copyright infringement.

imagine owning a premium account on Netflix (Just an example) and pulling all the info from their servers (Show, movies, etc.) using the premium account he owns and making a website that uses their servers with his premium account to offer these shows, movies, etc. for free.

I'm not sure what "owning a premium account" might mean. I have a Netflix account, but that account confers no ownership of anything on me. I'm also not sure what a "premium account" might mean or how one could "pull[] . . . info from [its] servers . . . using the premium account."

Please just get me something to make sense in his eyes to explain to him how serious that could be. He's thinking because it's being pulled from their own servers, it's alright.

Subject to the ambiguities noted above, if your friend is doing what you claim he's doing and he believes that, then he's a moron and will suffer the consequences. No information you get from anonymous strangers here is going to change his mind. I'd suggest you make darn sure you're not mixed up in whatever he's doing.

 

[Ohiogal]

It does not take all that much for copyright holders to discover infringers. What the copyright holder decides to do about the infringement is a question mark.

What a copyright holder decides to do depends on the infringed material, how the infringed material is discovered and where it is discovered, the value of the material infringed, who the copyright holder is ... a lot of different factors play into how a copyright holder will react to infringement.

A DMCA takedown notice in the US is a cheap and easy way to remove infringing material from its locations online. An infringement suit over US federally registered material often makes financial sense because of the statutory damages that are available. And the more prominent the copyright holder, the more likely a cease and desist letter, a settlement demand letter, and an infringement lawsuit against the infringer will be.

You don’t mess with large companies (like Disney) and expect to walk away unscathed.

Disney threatened to sue DAY CARES over painting on the wall. Why Disney Threatened to Sue Daycare Centers | TheSelfEmployed.com OP's friend is looking to get burnt for playing with fire.

 

[quincy]

Disney threatened to sue DAY CARES over painting on the wall. Why Disney Threatened to Sue Daycare Centers | TheSelfEmployed.com OP's friend is looking to get burnt for playing with fire.

Disney is not exactly forgiving of those who infringe on their rights. They are just one of the major companies that vigorously protect their rights, through cease and desist letters, settlement demand letters, and infringement law suits.

These companies have no problem stomping on the little guys and first time infringers. Their copyrights and trademarks are too valuable to allow others to use them without express authorization (the authorization of which comes at the high cost of licensing rights).