"Is PlayOn Legal?
The burning question regarding PlayOn is whether any of this is legal. How can a company allow you to access paid services and record them? Aren't individuals getting into trouble for this? After all, the RIAA recently shut down a
YouTube to MP3 conversion website.
On the surface, what it looks like PlayOn is engaging in is a form of what's known as "stream-ripping."
Given the legal minefield that exists when it comes to stream ripping, PlayOn provides a somewhat brief, although
case-law heavy explanation regarding why their service is legal. The company cites several legal cases to prove their main point: because PlayOn is a DVR (Digital Video Recorder) and DVR services have been deemed legal, their service is also fully legal.
PlayOn is similar to TiVo
In their blog, PlayOn compares themselves to the well-known DVR service TiVo. They cite several cases in which recordings of broadcast television made for "personal, non-commercial use" have been rendered legal under the Fair Use doctrine. Additionally, PlayOn notes that "[r]ecording programs for viewing at a more convenient time is permitted by United States copyright law as fair use."
PlayOn emphasizes the fact that its business is essentially "
place-shifting." Place-shifting the process of accessing content you have a right to access from another device or another location.
Because you have to secure the legal right to content before you download it with PlayOn, PlayOn is technically not a stream-ripper. Although it does allow users to record the shows, PlayOn embeds user information into the downloaded MP4 files to help keep the user honest and to help easily identify videos a user might try to reshare illegally.
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Is PlayOn's AdSkip service legal?
PlayOn also offers an ad-skipping service for paid subscribers to their PlayOn Desktop. While this service is fully legal, it may not make streaming services very happy. Both Hulu and CBS All Access have ads. PlayOn allows users to skip these ads.
The courts concluded that ad skipping services are legal back in 2013, when
ABC lost a bidto stop Dish Network from deploying the ad-skipping service that the company uses for its DVR service.
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PlayOn makes a compelling case for its legality on its blog. It is true that well-known DVR services like TiVo offer similar services compared to PlayOn. Plus, "place-shifting" has been ruled legal for some time now. Although PlayOn lets users skip advertisements, ad-skipping is considered legal as well and does not infringe on any copyrights or other laws currently on the books."