As expats, you might want to watch a show from your home country that is only available on torrent platforms. But, are you allowed to stream torrents in Germany?
It might surprise you to know that torrent streaming is illegal in Germany. Streaming torrents may result in fines of thousands of euros.
Does Germany have a streaming ban?
Pirated streaming became illegal in 2017 after a ruling by the European Court of Justice.
In Germany, copyright violations are illegal in general; streaming content is no exception. 123movies, 0gomovies or similar sites that violate copyright laws are examples of illegal streaming sites in Germany. Conversely, services like Netflix, Amazon Prime, Twitch, and YouTube are completely legal.
Further, if you upload copyrighted content or download torrents to anywhere in the internet without having proper consent, you risk a fine of around 1000€ if you do it with or without knowing it.
In addition to illegal streaming, Germany also banned the use of torrents.
What are some legal streaming services in Germany?
Online streaming services that either produce content or purchase copyrights to stream content are legal throughout Germany. That includes,
Amazon Prime
Netflix
Apple TV
YouTube
Magenta TV by Telekom
WOW
Sky
Rakuten TV
Is VPN legal in Germany?
Yes! Germany is one of those countries that consider privacy seriously. If you are looking to unblock geo restricted content in Germany or to protect your privacy while surfing the web, you can use VPN services.
Which VPN Is The Best In Germany?
From hundreds of VPN services available on the internet, we've selected the three we consider to be the best in our experience.
NordVPN
NordVPN is considered one of the best VPNs in Germany. In addition to offering service in almost every country, they also provide the fastest speeds and can unblock almost any geo-blocked content!
However, sad news to Indians living in Germany. Due to the recent amendments in the cybersecurity directives in India, NordVPN along with few other VPN services has removed its servers from India.
Besides seasonal offers like Halloween and New Year, NordVPN often offers reduced prices on its website. Take advantage of their current offer by visiting their website.
PureVPN
PureVPN claims to have you bypass internet restrictions. It allows you to bypass internet censorship and geo blocked content. Therefore, you have unrestricted access to websites, streaming services, live events, and much more.
PureVPN has found a way around the latest cybersecurity regulations in India. They route the traffic to India via Indonesia. With a limited speed, you still have the possibility to watch content from India with PureVPN.
Surfshark
Surfshark proves its worth with a large collection of privacy tools, an excellent app, and unlimited device connections.
Like NordVPN and others, Surfshark also had to remove its servers from India due to the regulations.
Conclusion
Despite Germany's strict laws protecting privacy and preventing piracy, people try to find alternatives every day. It is important to keep in mind, however, that every piece of content is made with a purpose and must be viewed at its best quality possible.
In our experience, Spending a couple of euros on quality streaming services is far more worthwhile than watching content in poor quality visuals and audio and paying thousands euros in fines.
It is important to note that you can still be fined if you live with others in your flat who use torrent or pirated streaming services. If the contract is in your name, the authority will not ask you whether it was you or somebody else in your apartment who used the illegal service.
If you receive a fine, you need to prove that it was your flatmate who had used the illegal service. However, to prove this, you may have to go to great lengths.
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