I recently got a 4k TV and so I’m really wanting to watch movies in 4k. They take up so much space that I can’t really put them on a flashdrive to watch, and as there aren’t any piracy streaming sites with 4k content I was thinking about using an old PC to make a media server on either plex or jellyfin.
My parents, who are okay with piracy streaming (fmovies.to) and even downloading are convinced that if I upload to a personal plex server, that it would be the same as someone uploading to a torrent website somewhere and that I will get swatted and sent to prison.
Is this a valid concern, or is it perfectly fine to upload pirated stuff to plex? Is there any chance at all that you could get into legal trouble for uploading your pirated media on plex?
My understanding is that using Plex/Jellyfin is perfectly fine. The only real concern would be the actual way that the media was obtained, but you can host whatever you want on Plex.
Plex content resides on your PC. You’re not uploading it anywhere. I use Plex for old TV shows. Hosted on my laptop, it streams over Wifi to my Firestick.
oh nice, that makes loads of sense, thanks. So it is only usable on your home network and can’t be accessed anywhere outside of it?
You can turn on/off remote access. I have mine on and have for years, haven’t been swatted yet lol
great, that is comforting to hear. Thanks!
It can be if you set it up for it, and pay for a Plex Pass. And it would be encrypted and password protected. Randoms wouldn’t be able to access it unless you gave them your login.
awesome. I really appreciate your help!
Jellyfin runs locally unless you manually expose it to the internet. Use a reputable VPN when you download content and you’ll probably be fine.
one more quick question- if I were to expose it to the internet, would that then open me up for legal issues, or would I still be okay?
You could look into setting up HTTPS, that way your traffic between the server would be encrypted.
As long as you don’t share it with anyone I doubt it, but there is always a risk when you share content on the internet.
I have a jellyfin server for myself and a few friends that’s available externally. Haven’t been swatted yet. Just don’t hand out login info to randoms on the internet, and you’ll probably be fine.
awesome, I think that answers my question then. I usually just do direct downloads so as to avoid the need for a VPN, so hopefully that continues to work as well as it has thus far
Echoing what others have already said… The movies you already have downloaded are there for you and your parents to use. Now, it’s a matter of how you transfer and watch the pirated content.
Instead of manually throwing it onto a USB drive and having to delete, upload and wait for file transfer each time you want to switch the movies out, plex acts as a private portal to access your personal media library that exists only on your computer. No external party will be able to access or view what is in this portal.
Plex only cares about very large servers that break ToS (providing paid services to thousands of people). Even in that instance, plex only bans the account. No one cares if it’s a small personal server. It’s not worth the time, energy, or money to “swat” you.
Maybe try old man terms? This box (PC/server) is a disk switcher for tv and movies (like old radios). I load it with disks and we can watch the movies and TV on those disks anywhere in the house.
this may be the way to do it, I will try this tactic and hopefully it will work!
Just make sure to use a VPN when you download stuff to put on the Plex server 👍
Echoing what others have said, use a solid VPN to actually download anything, and only make it accessible outside your network with reasonable protections. For really solid security you can use tailscale to only expose your server to your personal devices
Is this a real concern? I guess I have never thought it was a possibility.
I use jellyfin on local network because I do not trust my abilities to set it up and keep it secure for a remote connection.
I’ve been using Plex and bittorrent on a Whatbox.ca box in Virginia for a couple years now and haven’t gotten so much as a DMCA notice. I mostly use iptorrents but I do use public torrents when what I want isn’t available there.
