Is HiAnime Safe & Legal? Everything You Need to Know

In this post, I’ll examine whether HiAnime is safe and legal. I’ll also show you how to safely stream content on the site and provide 100% safe and legal alternatives.

What is HiAnime?

HiAnime is a streaming site for free anime movies, TV shows, and short films.

The platform provides a lot of free anime content, including English Subbed, Dubbed, currently airing, and popular titles. All content is completely free and you don’t need an account or subscription to start streaming.

HiAnime is one of the most popular anime streaming platforms, attracting millions of visitors every month.

Its sleek user interface, extensive anime collection, and HD streaming quality make it an appealing choice for fans. However, these standards are too good to be true for a third-party site that charges nothing.

Fans worldwide aren’t oblivious that HiAnime offers free premium anime streaming.

The Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment (ACE) also targeted several HiAnime domain names in a recent DMCA subpoena, fueling questions about its legal standings. Users worldwide are concerned and asking the question, “Is HiAnime safe and legal?”

This post will explore everything you need to know about HiAnime’s safety and legality, helping you make an informed decision before using the platform.

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Is HiAnime Safe and Legal?

Like most unverified streaming sites, HiAnime claims that it does not host content on its site but provides links to media hosted on other sites.

The official website says:

HiAnime does not store any files on our server, we only link to the media which is hosted on 3rd party services.

Despite the disclaimer, HiAnime shares copyrighted content. FireStickTricks.com can’t verify whether HiAnime has acquired the necessary licenses or copyrights to redistribute this content.

Let’s explore the safety and legal concerns separately.

HiAnime Safety Concerns

Several factors raise safety concerns for HiAnime:

Multiple Domains

Although the official domain for HiAnime is hianime.to, the brand also exists in other domains, including hianime.sx, hianime.mn, and hianime.nz. The availability of the service on multiple domains is a huge red flag for several reasons.

You cannot differentiate original sites with copycats. Malicious players can also use the brand name to create fake websites whose sole purpose is to phish user data or spread malware.

Data safety

HiAnime’s content is free and available to everyone. You don’t even need to sign up for an account. However, hackers often target free streaming sites due to poor security measures, so the safety of your data on such sites is not guaranteed.

Free sites make money through ad revenue or selling user data to third parties. HiAnime doesn’t show ads, which suggests it probably generates revenue through selling data.

Sketchy Terms of Service (ToS)

HiAnime’s Terms of Service (ToS) raise concerns about user safety and accountability. Regarding the limitations, the site states that it won’t be held accountable for any damages caused by the use or inability to use the materials on HiAnime. Furthermore, the site reveals that it hasn’t reviewed all the sites linked to its website and is not responsible for the contents of any such linked sites.

The lack of accountability makes it difficult to trust the site’s security and legitimacy.

The best you can do to determine HiAnime’s safety is to scan the website for malicious or suspicious files. I scanned the site URL on VirusTotal, a top online antivirus. No security vendor found any malicious files. However, one vendor found it suspicious. See the results below.

HiAnime Legal Concerns

Several aspects raise legal concerns for HiAnime. They include:

Offering Premium Content for Free

When a streaming site offers premium content for free, it doesn’t make business sense. How are the rightsholders making money off of it? For instance, if an anime series airs on TV or Netflix, the copyright holders make money by negotiating a deal with the distributor. The distributor earns by selling subscriptions or by cable charges.

If you watch a show for free on a site like HiAnime, which is otherwise available as paid content, it is highly probable that it is pirated and infringes copyright laws, which could lead to legal trouble.

Legal Troubles

A streaming site can be flagged for piracy when the copyright holders file a complaint with anti-piracy bodies highlighting that the content is being illegally distributed or reproduced. According to an ACE DCMA subpoena filed against HiAnime, HiAnime infringes copyright laws.

In the subpoena, ACE requested Cloudflare to disclose information on individuals offering infringing material. HiAnime was among the listed sites targeted in the subpoena.

How to Safely Watch HiAnime

FireStickTricks doesn’t encourage streaming pirated or copyrighted material. However, if you want to stream content via HiAnime, you should watch only public-domain content.

🔒 Always use a reliable VPN like ExpressVPN to avoid security and safety risks associated with unverified sites.

Here’s how a good VPN helps:

A VPN masks your IP address and hides your online activity. Your anonymity keeps you safe from authorities, ISPs, and malicious hackers.
It encrypts your data, keeping it undecipherable
Ad-blockers help block intrusive ads
If HiAnime is restricted in your location, a VPN will unlock these restrictions

Step 1: Subscribe to ExpressVPN HERE. It comes with a 30-day money-back guarantee. Meaning, you can use it free for the first 30-days and if you are not satisfied with the performance (which is highly unlikely), you can ask for a full refund.

Step 2: Power ON your Fire TV Stick and go to Find followed by Search option.

Step 3: Now type “Expressvpn” (without quotes) in the search bar and select ExpressVPN when it shows up in the search results.

Step 4: Click Download to install the ExpressVPN app on Fire TV / Stick.

Step 5: Open the app and enter the login credentials that you created while buying the ExpressVPN subscription. Click Sign in.

Step 6: Click the Power icon to connect to a VPN server. That’s all. Your connection is now secure with the fastest and best VPN for FireStick.

You can also read more detailed info on using ExpressVPN with Fire TV / Stick.

Safe and Legal HiAnime Alternatives

If you are looking for HiAnime alternatives, below are some anime streaming sites that are 100% safe and legal:

1. Crunchyroll

Crunchyroll is probably the best anime streaming site on the market. The site is purely about anime, featuring trailers and extra clips, original movies, popular anime films, and complete episodes of ongoing TV series.

2. Hulu

Another legal service that offers anime is Hulu. The best part is that you don’t need to pay extra to access the anime library. With a single subscription, you can access the complete Hulu library, which includes movies, TV shows, and anime.

3. Netflix

Netflix is best known for original anime you can’t find anywhere else. If you are looking for a service that offers high-quality, complete, and up-to-date anime, look no further than Netflix. You also enjoy other content from the vast library, such as movies, documentaries, and TV shows.

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4. Tubi

All the above legal options are premium. If you’re not ready to pay to watch anime, Tubi has a decent library of free anime movies and shows. For free, you can watch popular series like Naruto, Dante’s Inferno, and JoJo’s Bizzare Adventure on Tubi.

Verdict: Is HiAnime Safe and Legal?

HiAnime’s safety and legal standing are not clear. Security tools like VirusTotal didn’t find suspicious files on the site. However, the site raises safety concerns, especially regarding data security. Being targeted by anti-piracy authorities also raises concerns about the platform’s legitimacy.

Related:

Legal Disclaimer - FireStickTricks.com does not verify the legality or security of any add-ons, apps or services mentioned on this site. Also, we do not promote, host or link to copyright-protected streams. We highly discourage piracy and strictly advise our readers to avoid it at all costs. Any mention of free streaming on our site is purely meant for copyright-free content that is available in the Public domain. Read our full disclaimer.