See USA offer in Germany – is it legal?

Netflix's offering in the US is much more extensive than it is here. 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 is ​​making sure all self-produced content like “The Defenders,” “Orange Is the New Black” and “Stranger Things” is available simultaneously across all of its global media libraries. For some series, the rights in this country are held by another streaming provider, which is why Netflix is ​​not allowed to show them here or only later. To watch such content in Germany, access to Netflix USA would be ideal, but it is successfully blocked by a country block (geoblocking). If you want to access a more extensive US media library, you'll need to detour via a VPN service for Netflix or a proxy.

A VPN service changes your IP address so that it appears to Netflix that you are accessing your media library from the US. It violates the country's ban. After signing up for a VPN tool, you can log into Netflix normally, and then automatically be on the US version of the streaming service. Once you deactivate the tool again, if your IP address is back to normal, you will see the German offer again.

There are more reliable services like “ExpressVPN”, “NordVPN”, “UnblockUS” or “PureVPN” that have a free trial phase and then cost between five and ten euros per month. Free tools like “Hola” also hide your real IP address. However, with this free plugin you will soon be vulnerable to hackers, so it is very easy to track on the internet. So it's better to stay away from free stuff!

Be careful when using VPN services

Unfortunately, the legal situation when using VPN services is not 100% clear. In law, using a VPN tool is not considered to “bypass the streaming service's effective security measure” and is therefore not prohibited. As long as you're not just streaming and downloading the content, there's theoretically no copyright infringement. However, in April 2017, the European Court of Justice passed a law against illegal streaming, targeting illegal portals like Kinox.to. Sooner or later this law may extend to VPN tools as well, as they allow you to see something you're not actually allowed to see.

However, in Netflix's view, the use of such services Already illegal. The general terms and conditions clearly state that you are not allowed to use Netflix through a VPN service. That's why the streaming provider has had a serious anti-VPN attack since 2016. This is very useful and often leads to the error message “You are using an unblocker or proxy“. Only if you deactivate the VPN tool again will you be able to access Netflix again. So it's very possible that a tool you use today won't work tomorrow. Then you're stuck with nothing back on your monthly fees.