Is it illegal to share streaming passwords?

Those of you who are freeloading on your cousin’s Netflix account may want to think twice about it if you live in the U.K. The Intellectual Property Office (IPO), a copyright watchdog, recently published a new guidance stating that password sharing violates copyright laws.

“Accessing films, TV series or live sports events through Kodi boxes, hacked Fire Sticks or apps without paying a subscription is an infringement of copyright and you may be committing a crime,” the IPO said. This statement was reportedly amended to not explicitly mention password sharing — when it was originally published, it said “password sharing on streaming services” instead of “without paying a subscription.”

According to Netflix estimates, roughly 4 million subscribers in the U.K. access the platform without paying by using another user's password. That number is thought to be about 100 million worldwide. “There are a range of provisions in criminal and civil law which may be applicable in the case of password sharing where the intent is to allow a user to access copyright-protected works without payment,” said a spokesperson for IPO. “These provisions may include breach of contractual terms, fraud or secondary copyright infringement, depending on the circumstances. Where these provisions are provided in civil law, it would be up to the service provider to take action through the courts if required.”