Short answer
Yes, according to most contemporary scholars, including leading Hanafi muftis. Copyright and licences are recognised rights, so downloading cracked games, pirated films or unlicensed software without the owner's permission is not allowed. Free, open-source and legally free content is fine.
Contemporary Hanafi scholars such as Mufti Taqi Usmani hold that copyright, trademarks and similar rights are recognised by custom as valuable rights, so using them against the owner's terms is not permitted. Licence terms you accept must be kept.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
The Quran forbids consuming people's wealth unjustly, and the Prophet ﷺ said that Muslims are bound by the conditions they agree to. A game, film or program is the result of someone's work and investment. The owner sells the right to use it under certain terms. Taking it without paying, or breaking the licence you accepted, takes their right without consent.
The classical books did not discuss copyright, and some scholars held that such intangible rights are not property in the old sense. Most contemporary scholars, including the International Islamic Fiqh Academy and Mufti Taqi Usmani in his research on selling intangible rights, concluded that custom now treats them as real, valuable rights. That is the position followed here. Breaking the law of the country you live in, which protects these rights, is another reason to avoid it.
Common cases:
- Cracked games, torrents, illegal streaming sites: not allowed.
- Sharing one paid account with strangers against the terms: not allowed. Family sharing that the service allows is fine.
- Free and open-source software, public domain books, free trials: fine, since the owner permits it.
- Islamic books or Quran apps: some authors permit free copying for dawah; check the book. If not, the same rule applies.
If you already have pirated material, delete it, and if you keep using the product, buy a licence. You do not have to pay back for every film you watched in the past if that is impossible; repent and make up what you reasonably can through charity. Remember that the content itself must also be halal; see video games and movies.
The evidence
Quran, Surah An-Nisaa 4:29
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوا۟ لَا تَأْكُلُوٓا۟ أَمْوَٰلَكُم بَيْنَكُم بِٱلْبَٰطِلِ إِلَّآ أَن تَكُونَ تِجَٰرَةً عَن تَرَاضٍۢ مِّنكُمْ ۚ وَلَا تَقْتُلُوٓا۟ أَنفُسَكُمْ ۚ إِنَّ ٱللَّهَ كَانَ بِكُمْ رَحِيمًۭا ﴿٢٩﴾
O you who have believed, do not consume one another's wealth unjustly but only [in lawful] business by mutual consent. And do not kill yourselves [or one another]. Indeed, Allah is to you ever Merciful.
Taking a product without the owner's consent is forbidden.
Sunan Abi Dawud 3594
Grading to be checked... المسلمون على شروطهم ...
"Muslims are bound by their conditions."
Licence terms you accept must be honoured.
Where the ruling is recorded
- Buhuth fi Qadaya Fiqhiyya Mu'asira (Mufti Taqi Usmani), Chapter on selling intangible rights. Copyright and trade names are recognised rights with value.
- Fiqh al-Buyu' (Mufti Taqi Usmani), Section on intangible rights. Discusses whether such rights may be sold and protected.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.