Brain Settles Kodi Builders With ‘Piracy Add-ons’

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The Brain Foundation has reached settlements with ten makers of Kodi builds that contain add-ons that allow users to watch copyrighted content without paying compensation. The developers have stopped working on a total of three builds.

Brein reports that they all had to sign an abstention statement with a fine of 500 euros per illegal link. That means that if they ever make such Kodi builds again, they will have to pay a fine that can be hefty. Tim Kuik tells TorrentFreak that it is indeed about people who make ‘illegal’ builds, but does not want to say which builds are involved.

Brein takes the position that making a Kodi build with the necessary add-ons for watching protected content also amounts to copyright infringement. The foundation refers to the Filmplayer judgment of the European Court of Justice, in which the Court ruled that selling streaming devices with add-ons that enable viewing of protected content is illegal.

Brein’s reasoning is that this also applies if no streaming box is sold, but if it only concerns the necessary software. The developers of the software would know that users could be infringing with it, which was taken into account as a factor of assessment in the Court’s ruling.

According to the foundation, the ruling meant that many providers of the cabinets had to stop trading. By the end of June, the number would have risen to two hundred. Brein then threatened with high settlement amounts of up to 10,000 euros for providers who continue to sell the cabinets. A complaint would also not be ruled out. In June, Brein reached such a high settlement with a couple who sold the media players via Marktplaats.

Update, 10:00 am: According to tweaker virtualite, it concerns the builds KAOSbox, DokiTv and Creativetvbox. The site of the first provider indicates that the project has been stopped and the last provider says in a forum thread that it has also stopped. The team behind DokiTv also indicated that they would stop at Brein’s orders.

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