Seven million Kodi users set for crackdown this summer

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The popularity of illicit services, which allow people to access content without paying for it, is holding rights-holders back.

Shock new figures have revealed seven million people are streaming or downloading movies, TV shows or music illegally.

Those are the findings of a new report commissioned by the Intellectual Property Office, the official UK body responsible for intellectual property rights.

As such, a crackdown is set to be launched on users of modified set-top boxes, like Kodi.

Although the Kodi software itself is not illegal, the IPO is specifically targeting the sale of "fully-loaded" Kodi boxes, which come with illegal video add-ons pre-installed.

The report found that legal streaming services such as Netflix and Spotify are growing in popularity.

But the popularity of illicit services, which allow people to access content without paying for it, is holding them back.

Many are selling "fully loaded" boxes, which come pre-packed with these additional apps and their popularity is causing concern for UK authorities.

The Kodi software itself is not illegal, nor is it illegal to sell devices with Kodi pre-installed on them.

However, many of these Kodi devices come pre-loaded with third party plug-ins and add-ons that allow users to stream pirated content to their TV.

Selling these "fully loaded" TV set-top devices is a breach of the Copyright, Designs and Patent Act 1988.

Ros Lynch, Copyright and IP Enforcement Director at the Intellectual Property Office, said: "There has never been more choice or flexibility for consumers of TV and music, however illicit streaming devices and stream-ripping are threatening this progress.

"Content creators deserve to be paid for their work – it is not a grey area."

The Intellectual Property Office has published a "call for views", asking people in the entertainment industry and others what should be done.

And the Government response is due to be published later this summer, it said.

The study found that 15 per cent of UK internet users, approximately 7 million people, either stream or download material that infringes copyright.

Legitimate streaming has grown in popularity once again with Spotify seeing a 7 per cent increase in user numbers since 2016.

However, the study found that illicitly adapted set top boxes, which allow users to illegally stream premium TV content such as blockbuster movies, is holding the businesses back.

Popular applications allowing such streaming include Kodi, although this can also be used for legitimate purposes.

Legal streaming of music is also under threat, according to the Intellectual Property Office. Stream-ripping, by which internet users remove and store content away from its original a platform - such as downloading a YouTube music video - is becoming a significant problem.

The music industry is calling on the Government to work with it to stop the practice.

PRS for Music is a body which collects royalties on behalf of the music industry. Chief Executive Robert Ashcroft said: "We hope that this research will provide the basis for a renewed and re-focused commitment to tackling online copyright infringement.

"The long term health of the UK’s cultural and creative sectors is in everyone’s best interests, including those of the digital service providers, and a co-ordinated industry and government approach to tackling stream ripping is essential."