How Does Netflix License Content?

Netflix is full of awesome content, but how does it get its hand on it?

There aren’t many articles discussing this, and those that do just say “licensing rights,” and leave it at that. So if you’d like to learn about this, stick around – we’ll tell you exactly what Netflix has to do to stream content. Also, we’ll show you how to unlock Netflix titles that aren’t available in your region due to licensing issues.

Netflix and Licensing – How Does It Work?

Netflix has a pretty in-depth FAQ article on their site that explains pretty much everything about this process. If you don’t feel like reading it, though, we’ll try to keep it as simple as possible.

Basically, Netflix doesn’t own most of the shows and movies you see on the platform. So to legally show them, the company buys licensing rights from the copyright holders. They work with content producers, distributors, creators, and providers to make sure they get them.

However, Netflix isn’t always able to get global rights for a show or movie. They might only be able to buy them for a specific country – like the US, for example. If that happens, Netflix can’t legally stream that content in other regions, so it geo-blocks it (we’ll get to that in a bit).

And that’s about it. There are more things to be said, sure, but this is the gist of it all.

Does That Apply to Netflix Originals Too?

No, Netflix doesn’t need to get licensing rights with them since they own those titles. So they already own the rights too.

There are some exceptions like Lilyhammer and Orange Is the New Black, however. In those cases, Netflix no longer owns the licensing rights.

Why?

Because the company sold them when the shows launched. They did that because Netflix wasn’t available worldwide back then. So instead of taking a loss in countries where the platform wasn’t operating, it made a profit by selling the rights to TV networks and streaming sites.

Now that Netflix is available pretty much everywhere in the world, they can’t stream their own titles in countries where they initially sold the licensing rights for their shows. They first need to buy them back. Unfortunately, that’s easier said than done since the current right holders can ask for absurdly high prices.

Why Doesn’t Netflix Get Licensing Rights for My Area?

Usually, it’s because the rights aren’t for sale. The copyright holder already sold them to a different TV network or streaming platform in your country.

For example, Sky Go probably owns the rights to Dexter in the UK. The show is available on their platform, but not on Netflix UK (only US).

Even if the rights are for sale, Netflix’s data mining can get in the way. Before acquiring licensing rights, the company has to be sure it’s a profitable move. Licensing content accounts for a very big part of Netflix’s budget, so they can’t make rash decisions. 

Instead, they need to be sure users and potential new customers in certain areas will be interested in a show or movie. If they’re not, Netflix likely won’t buy the rights for those regions because it wouldn’t be a profitable move.

It’s not really fair for you, we know, but Netflix has to make sure they don’t end up in the red.

How Netflix Uses Geo-Blocks to Respect Licensing Agreements

We mentioned geo-blocking before, but what exactly is it?

Well, it’s how Netflix makes sure they respect the licensing agreements they signed with copyright holders. Basically, it’s a way to control what titles users from different countries get access to.

For example, if Netflix doesn’t own the licensing rights in the UK for Dexter, they have to geo-block the show for users in the UK to make sure they can’t watch it on their site.

If you’d like to know exactly how Netflix does that, here’s a quick overview:

1. When you visit Netflix, your browser sends connection requests to the site. Those requests contain your IP address, which reveals your geo-location (the country and city you are from).
2. When Netflix receives your connection requests, it checks your IP.
3. Once the site sees your geo-location, it redirects your requests to the appropriate regional library (so Netflix UK for a British IP address).
4. That way, you only see shows and movies that Netflix can legally stream in your country.

How to Bypass Netflix’s Geo-Restrictions

Don’t worry, you won’t need to travel to countries where the titles are available to finally watch them. Instead, you just need to use a VPN – an online tool that hides your IP address by routing your traffic through a VPN server that sits between your device and Netflix. Basically, your connection will look like this:

Your Device 🡪 ISP Network 🡪 VPN Server 🡪 Netflix

So Netflix thinks your connection requests are coming from the VPN server, not your device. That means the site only sees the VPN’s IP address (so its geo-location, not yours). As long as you use a VPN server in the same country as the Netflix content you want to unblock, you should be good to go.

Also, here’s another cool perk – VPNs encrypt your traffic end-to-end. That means nobody can spy on it – not even your ISP. Because of that, they can’t throttle your bandwidth (lower your speeds when binging Netflix).

Finding a good Netflix VPN can be tough, though. The site can detect VPN IPs and redirect them to the Netflix proxy error page.

There’s a shortcut, luckily – just use StreamCatcher to find VPNs that can unlock Netflix content. It’s an online tool from ProPrivacy that tells you where Netflix titles are available, and also recommends the best Netflix VPNs.

Have Any Info You’d Like to Share?

If you know more things about how Netflix licenses content, which we didn’t mention, please tell us about them in the comments. Also, if you know other ways to unblock Netflix content, please mention them too.