Sharing passwords for streaming services on Netflix is illegal according to the UK Intellectual Property Office (IPO) as it infringes copyright law.
In the UK, as in many other places, It is common for people who do not live together to share passwords for streaming services, even though this often goes against the terms of service contracts. Netflix never indicated that it would take legal action in these cases.
Now the UK Intellectual Property Office has explained that “There are several provisions in criminal and civil law that may apply in the case of password sharing where the intent is to allow a user to access copyrighted works without paying.”
“These provisions may include breach of contract, fraud or minor copyright infringement, depending on the circumstances. Where these provisions are covered by civil law, it would be up to the service provider to take legal action if necessary.
There is no indication that any of the major video streaming operators will take legal action against users.
Netflix said it wanted “to facilitate” people who borrow other people’s accounts to create their own, transfer their profile to a new account, and also create “sub accounts” so people pay more for family or friends.
An interesting part of the Intellectual Property Office’s response is the reference to criminal law, which suggests that, In theory, people could be prosecuted by prosecutors for sharing passwords.