Fatwa #4429926 March 2020United Kingdom
Digital piracy & the Muslim Youth
Question
Asalamu alaykum
Okay so my question is basically about Islam and "digital piracy" as I feel it's an issue a lot of Muslims fall under especially the youth and so I wanted to clarify it but it's difficult because there's a need to have a level of technical proficiency I feel
And when I mean digital piracy, I mean the consumption of the content and not the unauthorised sharing of the content in the first place which too me seems pretty straightforward impermissible
This started off with Islamic books. PDFs of them can be found everywhere online for free - even tho the book in person would need to be bought.
With Islamic books tho, the discussion was a little bit more complicated. The sheikh explained that on one hand Islam preserves the producers rights to command a prescribed return in exchange of their product i.e. even a book. And it wouldn't be right to obtain and consume that product without fulfilling the terms of the producer or in other words without violating them. However there's also a principle that Islamic knowledge should be openly shared and not restricted. So the sheikh said for personal use, when it comes to Islamic books, it is fine but just don't share it around.
Now the purpose of sharing this isn't to compare opinions lol but more to understand how this extends to other forms of content that we're exposed to in the smartphone era.
Examples include
- Football streaming
- Apps like Showbox, cartoon hd etc that let you watch paid shows for free
What would be the ruling on those? Would it be deemed impermissible or haram to consume them on the basis of the terms of the original producer being violated? The key distinction here is in and of itself, is it impermissible? Because it could certainly be said watching movies for example is haram anyway. However the purpose of discussion is more general, in the it's more about the generic issue. So for example it could apply to football streaming too
And then to take it one further level. If we assume in fact it is impermissible/sinful to stream football for free and use those apps then how far does that hukm practically manifest itself? So a particular example is YouTube. Google serves the user YouTube, and the user 'pays' for the service by watching ads. That being essentially the terms of agreement. However we now have various apps (most popular being YouTube Vanced) that are made by the community that give you the exact YouTube experience but with ads removed. Now would using that app also become impermissible by extension?
And if so, then to extend it one more time, does that mean for example that ad blocking itself also becomes impermissible? Because we're consuming content of webpages in exchange they they will get ad revenue and that's why they have ads on a given website. So would it be impermissible by extension to use ad blockers (on my web browser, on the whole incoming network etc.)
Answer
In the Name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.
As-salāmu ‘alaykum wa-rahmatullāhi wa-barakātuh.
There are three things to consider when dealing with copyright and piracy.
1. The nature of the content
2. The Shar’i outlook on the concepts of copyright and piracy
3. The legal aspect of such actions and to what extent they violate legal laws
You have referred to Pdf’s of books as well as video streaming services. You also understand that Haram content will not be permissible, irrespective of how it is acquired. Your question is also based on the premise that photography and videography in itself is permissible provided the content is not Haram.
Photography and Videography:
At the outset, there are differences of opinion amongst the contemporary Ulama regarding digital photography and videography. Some Ulama consider them to be in the ruling of Tasweer (making pictures of animate objects) whereas others do not consider it to be so.
Irrespective of the differences of opinions and academic substantiations, Taqwa dictates abstaining from such. Furthermore, as you stated, Haram content will not be permissible to watch according to all.
Abiding by the laws of one’s country:
It is important to note that it is not permissible to violate the laws of the country of one’s residence/citizenship, especially those laws that are put in place to protect the rights of others.
Nevertheless, hypothetically speaking, if your queries referred to those kinds of videos which do not contain any external Haram elements, then the laws of copyright need to be discussed in light of the Shari’ah. We will also discuss copyright with regards to books etc.
Copyright Laws:
In principle, copyright laws and intellectual property rights are legally enforced upon people to protect the initial investor from monetary loss and damages.
Islam is against any act that causes harm to an individual. Piracy is stealing from the people who created the content. Piracy entails acquiring products/software’s for free at the expense of the investor.
The extent to which copyright violation harms the economy is debated. In any case, there is no doubt that piracy involves trampling the owners’ rights creating duplicates of copies without the consent of their owners.
As you have noted, there is a difference between sharing copyrighted content and making changes to it/copying it for personal use. Copyright violations generally occur when one party utilizes another party's creative or scientific work without his permission. Generally, and this will vary according to each country, copyright is enforced to ensure the investor is not caused financial loss. Therefore, if one were to copy already purchased content/products, the investor would be harmed financially.
However, if one were to pirate a product/software i.e. illegally download it, one will directly be causing financial harm to the investor as well as violating the law of the country. This will be impermissible.
Downloading Pdf’s of books online:
When it comes to Pdf’s of books, if the websites have copyright laws stating that one must purchase the books, then it will not be permissible for one to read the books without purchasing them. This is not deprivation of knowledge since it is possible for one to purchase them legally. Also, if one knows books with copyright laws were uploaded onto sites illegally, it will not be permissible to download them. If the books and websites have no copyright restrictions, then it will be permissible for one to utilize them without purchase.
ShowBox and YouTube Vancing:
ShowBox is a wildly popular Android app that allows users to stream free movies and TV shows to a smartphone, tablet, or computer.[1]
ShowBox does not own the rights to the content available on their platforms, therefore they cannot legally offer the content to users. Hence, it will be impermissible to use, irrespective of the content.[2]
YouTube Vanced is an alternative YouTube client that lets you listen to videos in the background, block ads, force resolutions, use the ‘repeat the video’ option and much more. All of that from an interface that’s identical to that of the original client (YouTube).[3]
We could not find anything clear regarding the legality of YouTube Vanced, but it seems to fall within a grey area. If we were to assume that YouTube Vanced is completely legal, then its legality can be used as an indication for its permissibility. However, if it is illegal, then it too will not be permissible to use.
Abiding by the laws of copyright as a citizen:
As a general rule, the legality of a service should be an indication of its permissibility (keeping in mind there is no Haram content).
A further distinction can be made between services that offer content despite not possessing its rights (e.g. ShowBox) and those services which modify existing products (e.g. YouTube Vanced). The illegality of the former is certain; however, we could not find anything clear regarding the latter.
It should still be noted that YouTube Vanced does violate the terms and conditions of YouTube itself and this could potentially be a problem depending on one’s local laws.
AdBlock:
As for AdBlock, it is not the same as ShowBox and YouTube Vanced. AdBlock is a tool to control access of sites as per the users wishes. There is no law preventing the user from altering his own computer file. It is legal for the same reason it is legal to change channels on the TV (or fast-forward the DVR) when commercials start. The user cannot, by law, be forced to watch ads. At present there is no law preventing you from blocking content from being downloaded, displayed or run on your computer.
Conclusion:
A standard guideline is to avoid all illegal apps and services as they would most probably be infringing copyright laws. Hence, they will be impermissible.[4] As for those services and apps that are legal, they will be permissible to use. The legality and illegality of services takes into account rights of both the owner and the customer, hence the difference between AdBlock and ShowBox.
And Allah Ta’āla Knows Best
Bilal Yusuf Pandor
Student Darul Iftaa
Lusaka, Zambia
Checked and Approved by,
Mufti Ebrahim Desai.
[1] https://www.dailydot.com/debug/showbox-movies-android/
[2] https://www.valuewalk.com/2018/12/showbox-app-legal-trouble-lawsuit/
[3] https://youtube-vanced.en.uptodown.com/android
[4] Contemporary Fatawa, P. 188, Idara-e-Islamiat
Fiqhi Maqalaat by Mufti Taqi Usmani: vol.1 pg. 224 - Meman Islamic Publishers
بحوث في قضايا فقهية معاصرة – مفتي محمّد تقي العثماني – دار القلم (ج:1 ص:113)
فتاوى دار العلوم زكريا – مفتي رضاء الحق – (ج: 5 ص:297)
فتاوی قاسمیہ - مؤلف: حضرت مولانا مفتی شبیر احمد القاسمی صاحب - ناشر: مکتبہ اشرفیہ دیوبند الھند (ج:23 ص: 185)
فتاوی حقانیہ - مؤلف: حضرت مولانا عبد الحق صاحب (ج: 6 ص:68)a