You agree not to archive, reproduce, distribute, modify, display, perform, publish, license, create derivative works from, offer for sale, or use (except as explicitly authorized in these Terms of Use) content and information contained on or obtained from or through the Netflix service.
Netflix, for example, is extremely clear that using tools such as StreamFab to make copies is expressly forbidden.Ĥ.6.
Is it permissible to download and keep copies of movies and TV shows if you’ve paid for a legal subscription? Do the streaming services allow users to make copies and is this type of software legal? Subscriber Agreementsīefore tackling more serious matters, a quick look at legal streaming services’ subscriber agreements provides a wealth of information. Whether it always performs as advertised is up for debate but there are videos showing it in action on Amazon and other platforms quickly downloading files, rather than attempting to record the screen.Īside from living up to the significant functional claims in its marketing, the big questions revolve around legality.
StreamFab All-In-One, for example, weighs in at a hefty $259.99 for a ‘lifetime’ license.
It’s available from the Microsoft Store in trial format but gets pretty costly if users want to cover all possible services.
Every week questions are posted on social media asking how videos can be downloaded from Netflix, for example, and the answers are usually the same: It is possible, there are quality issues, and people are better off grabbing a pirate copy ripped by ‘professionals’.Ĭlearly motivated by this demand, a piece of software called StreamFab has been promoted for a while now, with claims that it has the ability to download and create DRM-free 1080p MP4 files from services including Netflix, Amazon Prime, HBO (720p is only available for new content due to a DRM update), Disney+, Hulu, Paramount Plus, U-Next, Rakuten TV, and even YouTube. It is unlikely that these features will appear on a licensed mainstream service but that doesn’t stop subscribers from desiring them. People Want to Download and Keep Movies & TV Shows However, the key benefits enjoyed by pirates, such as maintaining permanent access to copiable DRM-free files, represent a threat to the subscription streaming model. Services like Netflix have sought to mimic some of these benefits by allowing content to be played on most devices and even downloaded for offline viewing. They can also be transported from location to location and even shared among friends. Even if we leave cost out of the equation, these copies come in convenient formats that will play on any device, play over a network, and can be organized to create a Netflix-type experience using legal tools such as Plex. Long before the advent of legitimate online video streaming services, torrent sites and similar platforms allowed users to download and keep copies of movies and TV shows.īuilding a local video library from unlicensed sources has its attractions.