Using copyrighted material for personal use

3-1-2015 | IslamWeb

Question:

I asked this question before but you referred me to other fatwas.... (I am a medical student. I need some video lectures in my studies to make the course easy to understand. But these lectures are too costly and I can't afford them. I have downloaded the videos from a torrent site. Can i use these videos?...Also, if there are softwares installed on my computer which come with terms and conditions(these terms and conditions forbid me to use them for illegal purposes e.g., I cannot play the pirated video lectures on them)...Can I use these softwares to play the video lectures(as this will make me break the agreement when I installed these softwares)...I need these lectures in my medical studies!) I know there is a split opinion regarding "the copyright and use for education purposes" and the scholars have differnt opinions on this matter...I want to particularly ask about the "Terms & conditions" part!...Can I use other softwares (e.g., video players) to play these lectures...as this will involve breaking the agreement made during installation of these video playing softwares?...breaking an agreement is similar to breaking a promise!...and I have heard that the one who breaks promise has no religion(as the prophet SAW said)...PLEASE CLARIFY!!

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Answer:

All perfect praise be to Allaah, The Lord of the Worlds. I testify that there is none worthy of worship except Allaah, and that Muhammad is His slave and Messenger.

Your question comprises two matters. For the first one, regarding downloading videos for personal use, you mentioned that you have already read the statements of the scholars about it. For more benefit, please refer to Fataawa 90886 and 198579.

The second issue is about opening copied programs, videos, and the like, with applications whose terms and conditions upon downloading them state that they should not be used for anything for which  permission has not been provided. The answer to that is that whoever says that it is permissible to use those copied programs for personal use, then what is apparent is that there is no objection to using those applications as well. However, it is safer for you to use another video player that does not involve violating one's promise.

Allaah Knows best.