Netflix via VPN: How does it work & is it legal?

The Netflix offer is much more extensive in America than in this country. With the help of a VPN service you can also access the Netflix USA media library from Germany. You should be aware of the risks.

Streaming provider Netflix ensures that all self-produced content such as „The Defenders“, „Orange Is the New Black“ and „Stranger Things“ are simultaneously available in all its worldwide media libraries. For some series, however, the rights here lie with another streaming provider, which is why Netflix may not show them here at all or only much later.

Content in Germany

To see such content in Germany, however, access to Netflix USA would be ideal, which is successfully prevented by a country block (geoblocking). If you still want to use the more extensive US media library, you have to take the detour via a VPN service for Netflix or via a proxy.

  1. A VPN service changes your IP address so that it looks to Netflix as if you are accessing the library from the USA. This circumvents the country freeze. After logging in to a VPN tool, you can normally log in to Netflix and you will automatically be in the US version of the streaming service. As soon as you deactivate the tool again and your IP address is normal again, you will see the German offer again.
  2. There are very reliable services which you can compare at www.unblocknetflix.net like „ExpressVPN“ or „NordVPN„, which have a free test phase and then cost between five and ten euros per month.
  3. Free tools such as „Hola“ also disguise your real IP address. However, with this free plug-in you can be attacked quickly by hackers and are much easier to track on the net. So don’t touch free products!
  4. If you need a tutorial on how to watch it on your phone, check out this article here.

Caution when using VPN services

The legal situation regarding the use of VPN services is unfortunately not 100% clear. In jurisdiction, the use of a VPN tool is not considered „circumvention of an effective protective measure of the streaming service“ and is therefore not prohibited.

As long as your content is only streamed, but not downloaded, theoretically there is no copyright infringement. In April 2017, however, the European Court of Justice passed a law against illegal streaming aimed at illegal portals such as Kinox.to.

VPN Tools

It may well be that sooner or later this law will also be extended to VPN tools, because you can see something that you are not allowed to see.

  1. From Netflix’s point of view, however, the use of such services is already illegal. The general terms and conditions clearly state that Netflix may not be used via a VPN service.
  2. That’s why there has been a strict anti-VPN offensive from the streaming provider since 2016. This is quite effective and often leads to the error message „You seem to be using an unblocker or proxy“.
  3. Only if you deactivate the VPN tool again, you can access Netflix normally again. So it’s quite possible that a tool you use today won’t work tomorrow. Then you will remain seated on your monthly fee without getting anything in return.