As a working professional and mother of three, Marie isn’t proud of the fact that she’s a copyright infringer. But over the past few years, she has been using so-called pirate websites to watch several FX Networks TV shows — namely, “The Americans, “American Horror Story” and “Atlanta.”

That’s not by choice, says Marie, a Guelph resident who asked that her full name not be used for fear of legal repercussions. She’s more than willing to pay for content and subscribes to Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Disney Plus, as well as basic cable. She also had Bell Canada’s Crave until a few months ago.

However, none of those options carry FX shows, which also include “What We Do in Shadows,” “Mayans M.C.” and “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.” Ultimately, piracy is both cheaper and easier.

“I keep wondering why cable companies and broadcasters can’t figure out how to deliver this content in the way that consumers want,” she says. “It’s just more convenient, the cost is secondary.”

Industry watchers are similarly scratching their heads as to why FX shows specifically are absent from the main platforms in Canada, given that streaming popularity is exploding and platforms are proliferating. In the United States, FX content is available on Netflix, Amazon and Hulu, a service that is not available in Canada.

The answer, consumer advocates say, is likely a complicated miasma of licensing rights, broadcast regulations and business decisions that is making it difficult for consumers to get what they want despite the boom.

“It’s a mess,” says John Lawford, executive director the Public Interest Advocacy Centre (PIAC). “It’s a real horror show.”

Viewers do currently have a few ways to access FX programming. They can subscribe to the FX channel via cable TV or purchase individual episodes and seasons through iTunes, Google Play and other digital download stores.

FX shows can also be streamed through the FX Now Canada website and app, an online service operated by Rogers Media — but unlike most streaming services, users must already subscribe to an approved Canadian cable provider to get access. Customers of most providers including Cogeco, Beanfield and TekSavvy can sign up, but Bell is notably absent from the list.

As Lawford points out, neither situation is ideal for consumers like Marie, who are looking for convenience — a key factor behind the streaming growth that is also causing digital downloads and cable subscriptions to decline.

About 58 per cent of Canadian households are signed up to Netflix while Amazon Prime Video nearly doubled to 22 per cent since last year, according to Toronto-based analysis firm Solutions Research Group.

Bell, meanwhile, in August reported it had 2.7 million Crave subscribers, or almost 20 per cent of households. Both Disney Plus and Apple TV Plus launched as new options last month.

FX shows were a key component of Shomi, the joint venture Netflix competitor launched by Rogers and Calgary-based Shaw Communications in 2014. As with Crave, which originally launched as CraveTV the same year, Shomi was initially available only to its partners’ TV or internet subscribers, which prompted a PIAC complaint to the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission.

In 2015, the CRTC agreed with PIAC — that tying a streaming subscription to another service should not be allowed — and issued a ruling that effectively prevented the practice.

Streaming platforms that wanted to offer exclusive content had to be available to all Canadians regardless of who they got their other telecom services from. Both Shomi and Crave opened up to all comers shortly after.

Rogers and Shaw ultimately decided to shut down Shomi in 2016 and FX shows have largely been missing in streaming action since.

Rogers clearly continues to have some online rights to FX content given that the company is streaming shows through FX Now Canada, according to a CRTC official speaking on background. But it’s not clear if the company has the rights to sublicense the content to other streaming platforms, or whether it is simply withholding them so that others can’t get them.

“It’s based on negotiations between the programmer and the cable provider,” the official says. “They can ask for cable authentication if that’s their business decision, but they don’t have to limit it to cable subscribers” according to the rules.

Rogers declined to comment on what rights it controls. FX Networks did not return a request for comment.

Lawford believes Rogers is taking advantage of a regulatory loophole by classifying FX Now Canada under the CRTC’s earlier Digital Media Exemption Order (DMEO), which grants special privileges to services designed to be delivered primarily over the internet.

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Under the DMEO, broadcasters can offer an online service with exclusive content and at the same time avoid Canadian-content requirements as long as it is available to all Canadians regardless of their wireless or internet service provider. Notably, the rules don’t prevent such services from being tied to cable TV — which means that if you don’t have a cable package, you can’t get FX Now.

“[The CRTC] probably never thought that anybody would require a cable subscription to get into an otherwise internet-based service,” Lawford says.

The issue could ultimately be proven moot with Disney’s purchase earlier this year of 21st Century Fox’s film and television assets, which includes FX shows and a stake in Hulu that now gives it majority ownership.

Disney chief executive Bob Eiger said at the time of the acquisition that he would like to expand Hulu internationally, but industry watchers aren’t sure how feasible that would be in Canada given that other streaming platforms already control large swaths of its content, FX notwithstanding.

“If it did come to Canada anytime soon, Hulu could only offer a fraction of what it does in the U.S. due to rights issues,” says Brahm Eiley, president of Victoria, B.C.-based analysis firm Convergence Research.

The federal government, meanwhile, is in the midst of reviewing the Telecommunications and Broadcasting Acts, with a final report due in January. Officials have signalled that all regulations regarding online content are being considered.

The review is also considering how to prevent Canadian television from being dominated by U.S.-based streaming services, and whether some new mechanisms will be necessary to keep Canadian-made content on the virtual airwaves.

The government could change the entire landscape with new rules, wiping out existing loopholes and incentives to keep programming off streaming services — or it could create further issues.

In the meantime, Canadian broadcasters and internet providers are going after piracy enablers in the courts, including the sorts of websites that Marie uses to get her “American Horror Story” fix.

Last month, a group including Bell, Rogers and Quebec’s Groupe TVA succeeded in obtaining court assent to block GoldTV.ca, an internet protocol service that streams channels for a nominal fee.

Self-described binge watchers who are having to resort to copyright infringement, like Marie, say that’s the wrong approach — that piracy shouldn’t be necessary in the first place.

“They’re not delivering what their customers want,” she says.

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