The reason that Netflix content is different in many regions is that it’s the law that has its say. Most people don’t realize that copyright law is different in every country, which means that the subscription-based streaming service makes different deals in different regions. That’s why someone you know might be recommending you watch a program they’re watching, when in fact, your region doesn’t show that.
The reason different regions have different content on Netflix is that Netflix is the one buying licenses to stream content in certain areas. You will find that Netflix USA has permission to stream content that Netflix UK doesn’t have.
Netflix filters what you can see
The same rules that apply to deciding which countries have access to specific content apply to travelers who go beyond their country’s borders. As a traveler, you’ll discover that Netflix filters what you can see when you travel to another country.
You will be able to access that country’s Netflix library, but you will find that it differs considerably from what you watch at home. In the United States, you may well have access to 4000 or so movie titles, but when you travel to Spain as an example, you will find that now you only have access to about 2000 titles.
If, while traveling abroad, you have tried to log into your Netflix account, you may well have seen that the content you want isn’t available at all. This is simply because of the enforcement of copyrights. All countries have different laws around the copying of media content. With the right VPN, though, you might get to watch what you want. With VPNs for changing Netflix region, it is easy, but let’s first understand why it works differently across world regions.
A massive increase in piracy
Hollywood movies are massively costly, and the studios enforce copyright, wanting to rake in as much as possible for their investments. Piracy may have been a fairly smallish problem at one time, but these days with the Internet, digital piracy and the move from DVDs to online streaming have seen a massive increase in piracy and a negative toll on the profits of the studios.
Studios enforce copyright by country and a movie that is popular in one country might be a washout in another. Netflix and the studios have realized this and the studios charge more for Netflix to offer the streaming of certain titles in certain countries. Netflix may opt to pay the price the studio demand to stream a movie in one country, while negotiations in another country never get off the ground.
You have to remember that Netflix’s job is to stream video all over the world but the streaming studios want to earn profits on their content. There are copyright laws, of course, and so Netflix negotiates with each of these studios to arrange certain agreements to stream titles in each region.
Users aren’t banned from using a VPN
You can imagine that Netflix reaches millions of subscribers around the world. Being able to offer content that isn’t hindered by geographic restrictions will surely attract new subscribers. Those in the know say that when you look at Netflix’s Terms of Use, they don’t ban subscribers from using a Virtual Private Network or VPN to eliminate these geographic restrictions.
And yet there are experts in the field who say that you can use Netflix with a VPN so that you can watch Netflix wherever you find yourself. Not all the VPNs for switching Netflix regions don’t all work with Netflix and you might get an error message. However, with the right VPN, using Netflix abroad is actually easy. When you connect to a VPN, you’re given a region-specific IP address from the country your server is in. Your IP address is used by Netflix to fathom your location.
When you start looking for VPN services for watching Netflix anywhere, you’ll find names such as ExpressVPN, NordVPN, Surfshark, and CyberGhost being bandied about, plus many others. So, to use Netflix with a VPN, there are just a few simple steps to follow –
- Sign up with one of the VPN services.
- Install the app, ensuring you get the right version for your device.
- Connect to the Netflix library and to one of your VPN’s servers in that country.
- Go to the Netflix website and put it to the test.
Conclusion
You can see why Netflix content is different in all the various regions. And the same applies to travelers. Netflix wants to avoid conflict with their studio partners, and they filter what you can see when you’re in another country. Yes, you can access that country’s Netflix library, but it will be different from what you watch at home.
When you do research, you find that there are various guides on changing your country on Netflix so that you can watch everything that you’re used to watching.
