Kodi add-on fans could have seen a huge piracy precedent set, with a judge recently siding with major Hollywood players Netflix and Amazon in court.
The Kodi surge continues without any sign of stopping, as users continue to ditch paid TV services for the online player.
Research has suggested Kodi – which offers access to thousands of channels – is being used in more than five million UK homes.
Kodi software is not illegal, but developers can produce third-party add-ons that provide free access to pirated and illegal content.
These apps allow users to stream premium content, like paid-for sports and movie channels for free.
The illegal add-ons are being targeted by ISPs, government agencies, broadcasters and rights holders.
And now one Kodi Box distributor has been dealt a heavy blow in a court case set in motion by major Hollywood players.
TickBox TV is a popular streaming set-top box, powered by the Kodi media player.
According to Hollywood studios, the Georgia-based company includes instructions for a number of Kodi add-ons that enable users to stream paid-for content for free.
Much of this paid-for content is generated by the likes of Disney, 20th Century Fox, Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros, Amazon, Netflix – which are all part of the Alliance for Creativity and Entertainment.
The ACE last year filed a lawsuit against TickBox, claiming these set-top boxes are nothing more than piracy tools, allowing buyers to stream copyright-infringing content.
And now a US judge has ordered TickBox to keep add-ons out of their set top boxes in a huge victory for Netflix Amazon and co.
In their preliminary injunction this week, US District Court Judge Michael Fitzgerald largely sided with movie companies, TorrentFreak reported.
The ACE had claimed TickBox promoted its service for piracy purposes, and Fitzergerald said there was enough evidence to make this likely.
As such, the judge said there is sufficient reason to believe TickBox can be held liable for inducing copyright infringement.
TickBox had said they had simply offered a computer that users can configure the way they want to.
But the US judge said TickBox went further, as it directed users to install certain ‘themes’.
These themes feature several add-ons that link to infringing content.
In their findings, judge Fitzergerald wrote: “Thus, the fact that the Device is just a ‘computer’ that can be used for infringing and noninfringing purposes does not insulate TickBox from liability if [..] the Device is actually used for infringing purposes and TickBox encourages such use.”
The preliminary injunction compels TickBox to ensure set-top boxes should no longer have links to themes or add-ons that the ACE has flagged up as copyright infringing.
TickBox said their business could be shutdown by a broad injunction, but the court argued against this as customers can still use the devices for legitimate purposes.
The court added if customers are no longer interested then it suggests piracy was the main draw of the devices.
The preliminary injunction is not final, and it remains to be seen how TickBox can remove add-ons from devices that already have been sold.
The Court has told both TickBox and the ACE to reach an agreement on outstanding issues which can be included in an updated injunction.
The ACE has also filed a similar lawsuit against Dragon Box, a set-top box that makes use of Kodi add-ons.
The complaint alleges Dragon Box advertised the product as a way for users to avoid paying for authorised subscription services.
It quotes marketing material that encourages users to “Get rid of your premium channels … [and] Stop paying for Netflix and Hulu.”
The set top box costs around £255 and is in over a quarter million homes in the US.