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Is there some way of syncing the Kodi Library so that would use online files of TV shows instead of locally stored media?
So if I wanted to watch say, NBC's "The Blacklist" I could simply click on it in my TV Shows Library and the 5 episodes that NBC maintains on their NBC.com website would be listed so that I could click and stream from their website? And the last 5 episodes of "The Flash" from CWTV.com?
I just want to be able to watch free and legally available episodes from the the content owners website easily from within Kodi...
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PatK
Team-Kodi Member
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2017-07-18, 18:31
(This post was last modified: 2017-07-18, 18:32 by PatK.)
Ah if life was so simple. Silly things; like permissions to rebroadcast, registration and passwords (so they can target you), web page ads and click throughs (sales), not to mention copyrights drm and people getting paid; given what's before the courts etc. and I'm sure someone somewhere is pushing for free everything, but not a lot of people are listening.
In the meantime Kodi is free open source software, enjoy, be good.
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I'm not talking about stealing content, just playing content that the owners are already allowing free access to. Kodi already has legal addons in the Official Repository that directly access network websites and play their content thru Kodi. I'm only suggesting that it be synced with the Library. It would be accessing the content in the same way that other current, legitimate addons access website content. I don't understand how SYNCING with the library (NOT downloading any content), to be streamed from the content owner's website creates a legal issue.
I just don't want to have to search thru a dozen different addons simply to see if their are any new episodes of my favorite shows...
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(2017-07-19, 14:49)Dennis_D Wrote: I'm not talking about stealing content, just playing content that the owners are already allowing free access to. Kodi already has legal addons in the Official Repository that directly access network websites and play their content thru Kodi. I'm only suggesting that it be synced with the Library. It would be accessing the content in the same way that other current, legitimate addons access website content. I don't understand how SYNCING with the library (NOT downloading any content), to be streamed from the content owner's website creates a legal issue.
I just don't want to have to search thru a dozen different addons simply to see if their are any new episodes of my favorite shows...
Addons in the official Repo may not be legal everywhere
Everything Patk says can apply to many (most?) addons in official repo too
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FXB78
Posting Freak
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2017-07-19, 20:37
(This post was last modified: 2017-07-19, 20:39 by FXB78.)
How would Kodi know if the content had been removed from the service. For example Netflix are adding & removing content all the time, you would just end up with a ton of dead links in your Library. Not to mention how scraping the content in the first place would even work. And then there's the legalities on top of that, such as Kodi being used to bypass the official UI and their related ads etc. It's just never gonna happen as far as I can see.
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Sites like Reelgood are able to tell you what is available for streaming. Why couldn't a Kodi addon do something similar? At least for a limited number of sites? And provide at least a browser interface to link to the sites so that you can access the media within the provider's interface? That way you're not bypassing anything on the content owner's site. They still play you the ads, if it's a pay site you still need to sign in with a valid account, etc.
I think a lot of the piracy addons for Kodi would simply dry up if there were legal addons getting users similar access without violating the rights of the IP holders. A centralized and easy to search index of links for the available streaming for shows & movies you are interested in, as opposed to crawling thru the numerous individual addons for each provider.
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2017-07-21, 18:50
(This post was last modified: 2017-07-21, 18:52 by Dennis_D.)
On the reelgood site, you input a list of shows and movies you are interested in. It searches free sites along with the pay sites you specify. It will show what new episodes are available. You click on the link and it opens a browser page taking you to the site where the media starts playing. They don't seem to be breaking any laws. Why can't a Kodi addon do something similar? Or get "Reelgood" to allow an official addon of their site?
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nickr
Retired Team-Kodi Member
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Most of the services on reelgood don't have a kodi addon.
If I have helped you or increased your knowledge, click the 'thumbs up' button to give thanks :) (People with less than 20 posts won't see the "thumbs up" button.)
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OK. How about this?
I opened the WCBS addon, scrolled to The Big Bang Theory, clicked on "C" and added it to Favorites. Going to Favorites and clicking on Big Bang Theory brought up the list of the 5 most recent episodes that CBS maintains on their website. I then clicked on an episode title and that episode played.
If I can do that with current Kodi capabilities, why can't an addon be developed that will sync those shows with the TV Library instead of Favorites?
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2017-07-24, 16:55
(This post was last modified: 2017-07-24, 16:57 by Dennis_D.)
I understand that not every addon author is thrilled about every suggestion for a new addon. We're not all interested in the same thing, that's human nature. And you're all volunteers doing this in your spare time. But why are you bothering to solicit ideas for Kodi (That IS the purpose of this subforum, right?) if you are just going to reply with "Impossible!" or "Not interested?"
If I had any sort of talent or ability in creating addons myself, I probably would have taken a stab at it instead of just posting a suggestion. So suggesting that I do it myself is kind of pointless.
Also, there is at least one popular pirate addon that does just what I'd suggested. It's a popular addon because it makes access to streaming content easier. Granted, they are breaking the law in the way that they do it, but it shows that it is possible. I believe that such pirate addons would lose a lot of their popularity if users had the option of legal addons that had similar - even if more limited - functionality.
