One of the UK's leading youth news sites recently published an article about the TV licence and Netflix.
According to yesterday's article on The Tab: "In short, no. You don't need to have a TV licence to watch Netflix. It's because you're not watching live TV and therefore you do not need a TV licence for it."
Okay so far, but the same article goes on to say: "But if you are using other catch-up websites like BBC iPlayer, 4OD, or ITV catch up, you need to have a TV licence, because those websites have the ability to show live programmes."
That statement is incorrect.
Whilst it is true that watching or downloading BBC on-demand programmes via the iPlayer now requires a TV licence, it is definitely not true that a TV licence is needed to use any other on-demand website. The fact that many on-demand services give the option of accessing live TV programmes is totally irrelevant - it is the act of receiving those programmes that is licensable, not the mere ability to do so.
In an example that will totally blow the mind of some people, it is perfectly legal to have a TV set in the corner of your front room, aerial plugged in, as long as you don't use it to receive TV programmes without a valid TV licence (not that we would recommend such a course of action, as TV Licensing would undoubtedly try to stitch up anyone in that situation).
In The Tab's defence, this is a matter of TV licence legislation that is widely misunderstood. Because such a misunderstanding plays to TV Licensing's advantage, it is quite happy for inaccurate information to propagate across the web and rarely attempts to clarify the situation.
To avoid unnecessary repetition, we would direct readers to the following articles for more information:
- Taking a TV Licence Fee Holiday- TV Licence Evasion: The Rudd Defence
- Student Guide to TV Licensing Rules
We would also invite anyone seeking a general overview of current TV Licensing legislation and enforcement to visit our Quick Guide page.
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2 comments:
I'm sure the BBC will be trying all they can to get Netflix brought into needing a TV Licence.
Not many people do understand the TV Licencing 'law'.
I spoke to the serving police officer about the continuous harassment I receive from TVL.
This officer's response: "Government agencies such as the BBC (!) have the right to harass people (!) for none payment of bills (!), it's just like the community charge tax (!)". Oh dear.
These are your police officers, here to serve the public, giving out such disgraceful statements. I'm currently doing an FOI request for the recording of this phone conversation.
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