It is illegal to share the passwords of streaming service accounts to friends and families in the UK.
The Intellectual Property Office is a branch of the UK government and has confirmed that sharing the passwords of services like Netlix, Disney+, Spotify and Amazon Prime Video is against UK law.
"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," it revealed (as reported by the BBC).
"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."
It is common practice for users to share their accounts with others outside of a household - something that Netflix has vowed to address in the last year. Now it seems this could even result in a criminal conviction.
However, there is currently no indication from any of the big streaming services that they are willing to go that far. Instead, Netflix and its rivals have or are introducing measures to encourage people to set up their own accounts. It has also added a new, cheaper, ad-supported Netflix Basic tier for those struggling to pay for the pricier alternatives.
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