Is it stealing, or in any way unethical, to sit in on lectures at university that you aren't enrolled in (therefore aren't paying fees)? A lot of people do this and it's considered normal even for lecturers to allow it, which is true of some classes I would like to attend. I can't enroll formally because I have casual work at the moment, so I don't know what days I'm free. The lecturers and the department are fine with the idea, but I believe the university does have an auditing option, which is very expensive (aimed at retirees, I think, and I can't afford it). I just wonder whether sitting in on the classes is fine, since I wouldn't enroll anyway at this time, or whether it should be considered taking something without paying for it.
How about lecture recordings, if I don't attend the class but a friend records it and I listen? Do the recordings belong to the lecturers, who would give permission, or to their employer the university, who technically would probably ask me to enroll to audit if I asked?
Don't take into account the fact that I want to go to the classes :) Just whether objectively it's acceptable.
