Are Roku Private Channels Legal?

There is a fair amount of mystery, confusion and excitement that swirls around Roku private channels. But here is what you need to know.

LEGAL Roku PRIVATE Channels

1. Roku Private Channels were always an integrated part of their platform and are mostly used to this day for channel developers to beta test their channels with a small group or a few individuals.

2. They may have been made to share privately with a small group of people. But often someone tells a friend who then tells their cousin and they tell their best friend's brother and soon the channel code is posted on Facebook and everyone knows about it.

3. Other private channels which look every bit as good as the most polished public channels are Adult Roku Channels. Because these channels are not allowed to be published in the Roku store. But Adult channels have been on Roku since the very beginning and there are quite a few of them.

ILLEGAL Roku PRIVATE Channels

A few Roku developers also made private channels that contained a lot of copyright content and then sold access to these channels through subscriptions. These are forbidden against Roku's Terms of Service. Roku has fought back against these kind of developers by removing their private channels when they can find them.

Some developers then ask their subscribers to sideload their private channels, this was also soon countered and here is why you should never sideload illegal channels on Roku.

Some private channels do fall through the cracks and may contain a mix of mostly legal and unlicensed content. So it's not always Black and White and sometimes these channels go unnoticed for a long time.

Where to Find Roku Private Channels

Here is an extensive list of 1900+ private channel codes with step-by-step instructions on how to add these to your Roku.

One big advantage to private channels is if you live outside the United States. These locations often only have limited access to content that is permitted to be shown in the Public Roku Channels Store. But Private channels often make their content available in many places all over the world.

Often the same public Roku channel that is found in the U.S.A channel store. Also has a private channel available which will then be able to be watched from many other locations around the world.

It may be worth searching through the Roku private channels list. And see if an alternative channel exists that works.