We have plenty of Pakistani websites that host Talk Shows and other TV programmes on their servers to serve their visitors. The idea was actually liked when ex-President Musharraf banned many of news channels in his regime, and internet became only source of electronic information.
One of such website has more than 2 years of TV programmes archives from different TV channels. I didn’t get any reply when I asked the admin (through their Contact Us form) about the legal status of the videos he/she /they are hosting.
When I asked Geo TV’s distribution department in Lahore and Karachi, first they said they even don’t know if someone is copying their videos and putting on his/her website. When I asked, okay let’s suppose if someone is showing your talk shows (without ads in it), how would be your reaction “Of course it’s illegal, we never allowed anyone copy our videos – they are doing so without rights”
I do agree that these websites are very beneficial, as lot of internet users watch their favorite Talk Show at their own convenience of time. But question remains the same, if providing comfort change the legal status of content? And above all, these websites charge their visitors to view TV Shows.
By the way, we all are familiar with lawsuits that YouTube faced due to violation of copyrights for the videos it is hosting.