I wonder if it is legal to download anime (especially in Australia)? because now i'm staying in melbourne and i really want to download so many series of anime but i don't know if it is legal or not.

If your talking about downloading anime for free (rather than paying and then downloading from a legitimate source) then yes almost certainly it is illegal. Though I don't have any experience with Australian law.

Its illegal.. but most people do it anyways.. you dont really have to download it, you can just watch the episodes on sites such as youtube (but youtube is getting smarter and a getting rid of the episodes that were posted), but there are other sites.. Also bittorent is a handy thing but it takes longer, so if you really wanna watch them just go to video sites.

...doh. Anime is copyrighted even though it may or may not yet be licensed. Meaning, 's technically illegal. But, since the Japanese usually focus their distribution in Japan itself, fansubbing episodes can be looked upon as 'advertising'.

There was something in the FAQ about that, if I remember correctly.

Using bittorrent is the same thing as doing a straight download. You're just downloading via a different method. They're both still illegal. Basically if you didn't pay for and its not from an official site that has rights to the anime then anything you do will probably be illegal. If you not sure then just don't d it. Better to be safe.

Technically downloading anything for free that in stores you would have to pay for is illegal. Downloading anime for free is just like downloading movies for free, and it's even worse if you sell them. I have a feeling people could get in a lot of trouble for it, but so many of us do it anyways...hehe.

It would depend what type you download. If you download your weekly Naruto or Bleach from a popular fansub, then there's no real issue. Those shows are aired on national television in Japan, so technically speaken it's free to watch, plus the people who sub the animes usually do it for free.

What would be illegal is in the event YOU, as an individual or company, is making money out of it, by for example selling those subbed animes on ebay or to your local video store. As soon as you start making money out of it without the concent of it's original owner, it's illegal.

Or by downloading straight DVD Rips of animes, DVDs you would usually need to buy, that is illegal also because you are "stealing" from the vendors by not paying...

SugarPinkKitty

Technically downloading anything for free that in stores you would have to pay for is illegal.

This isn't always necessarily true, I would have to pay for Windows in a store for example, whereas I can download it from directly from Microsoft for free. Another example would be buying a Linux distribution from a shop, I bought Red Hat 9 even though there was a free download.

As for getting caught, well from what I remember it's up to the company that owns the rights to the series to stop piracy, rather than the police. The chances of that happening are pretty small.

onime-no-kyo

Those shows are aired on national television in Japan, so technically speaken it's free to watch, plus the people who sub the animes usually do it for free.

I was under the impression that the broadcast content is still copyrighted, and that recording something for your own use is legal. But recording something then distributing it to other people isn't.

Depends on what site you download.

There may be a possibility where this site allows you to download anime but you need to pay for it first. They guarantee its "original" but for all we know it could be just torrented XD.

Well, the bottom of the line is...chances are downloading them via any method (direct, megaupload, rapidshare, bittorent etc) is illegal.

but we have our own choice so if you really want to download it...just shove off your conscience and press that download button because you know you want it

If you're talking about dowloading copyrighted material that does not have the approval of the creators or copyright owners, then yes it is illegal. However, fansubing can be considered advertisement overseas for possible licensing. Still, thousands of illegal fansub downloads are occuring on a daily basis and the chances of Japanese anime industries taking action by suing is low.

In the netherlands its legal to download but illegal to distribute (upload). Whenever I download anime thats being aired on japanese tv or is liscened in america doesn't matter jack for me.
Hell, even if it Was illegal by law I still would be doing it anyway.

As far as i know if it is from national television it is somewhat legal as long as you do not sell it.

I just want to add my two cents here since it seams people don't get to an agreement about something so obvious as this. The short obvious answer is yes, it is illegal, how getting for free something that hundreds of people worked for and paid for to produce, and than SALE and distribute under copyrighted laws would be legal? there are no "buts", everything said on this thread about "depents" or "buts" is false. Downloading anime or any other copyrighted material without strictly written permission is illegal, period.

Downloading Licensed or Unlicensed material on your country still is illegal. All countries that have signed the Berne copyright convention (most of them have) recognizes a copyright worldwide as soon as it is copyrighted in any of the participant countries.

There are only very very very few instances of free legal anime download, which would be usually the first episode (or part) distributed online at the distributor's site under the distributor's permission (this is starting to be common on US distributor sites)

However, does it really matter if it's legal or not? Law is just a piece of paper that authorities come up trying to follow common sense and protect the hard work of others - so the question you must ask if you want to get to the bottom of this is: is it ETHIC to download for free anime?

Big no.

I never downloaded an anime so far (I guess I would, but so far I borrowed fansubs - illegal - from friends) but regardless of source this is still unethical and "illegal". Some coutries won't say it's illegal, some will but don't care, but ethics remain, and it is not fair to get for free something someone created as their work, to earn money. Seeyus and designers work - it's their job - while creating an anime, and they deserve to be paid. Any anime fan, regardless of getting anime for free or not, should at least acknowledge that the authors and people behind anime deserve restitution for their work. I am starting to like more and more anime, but I can't buy it (there is nowhere to buy where I live, imports are overly taxed, and I don't know Japanese, so I have few "legal" options, all of them overpriced), so I am unfortunate that I will have to keep on the unethical side, but I will never say it's right or that people who did this don't deserve to be paid. If one day I visit Japan and find some english subbed DVD's I will surelly buy, even if I watched, just for the sake of having the original thing at my home, and the satisfaction of having paid those fine artists for their work and thus providing them insentive to keep doing a good work.

Indeed.
technically it is illegal for downloading. but i still do it anyway, since it's not licensed over here and there's no official warning in my region for such item (anime and such) .. .

KO GA BALAS? KW GILA LAPET!!?!?!