Kodi will not clamp down on streams despite EU Court ruling

Kodi has stated that it will not act as police for its own software despite a ruling from the EU Court of Justice that pirate streaming is illegal.

Kodi has stated that it will not act as police for its own software despite a ruling from the EU Court of Justice that pirate streaming is illegal.

In a statement on the landmark ruling, which only affects users in Europe, Kodi said it stands by its “neutral” policy.

Nathan Betzen, community and project manager for Kodi said in a statement: “We are developers and not the police, and we have no interest in acting as police for our own software.

“Kodi will remain as free and as open as it always has. Feel free to continue using Kodi however you want.

“We do ask that if you decide to use Kodi in a way that’s illegal, please leave us out of it.

“To us Kodi is and always will be just a tool, like a hammer, and how you choose to use that tool is up to you,”

Despite attempted clampdowns, the Kodi media player is legal in the UK, however, many users operate third party plug-ins and add-ons to stream pirated content to their TV.

Kodi have stated however that they do not believe it is their responsibility to block these streams and that the open nature of the platform does not allow such policing.

EU Court of Justice has ruled that the temporary reproduction of a copyright-protected work is not exempt from the “right of reproduction”.

The ruling rules effectively that anyone who streams an illegally copied film or TV show is breaking the law - just as they would be if they downloaded it.

Streaming arguably remains a grey area in regards to copyright. Estimates suggest that up to 5 million Brits use Kodi.

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