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Using a multimedia player such as Kodi to stream pirated video content online is just as bad as downloading an illegal copy, an EU court has ruled.

While downloading an illegally copied episode of Game of Thrones or Breaking Bad constitutes copyright infringement, streaming has previously been a bit of a grey area.

That's because when you stream something online, the file is stored only temporarily on your computer, and temporary copies have traditionally been exempt from copyright laws.

However, in a landmark ruling yesterday, the Court of Justice of the European Union stated that the temporary reproduction of a copyright-protected work, obtained without the consent of the copyright holder, is NOT exempt from the "right of reproduction".

(Image: Getty)

The right of reproduction states that no person other than the copyright owner can make any reproductions or copies of the work.

The ruling effectively means that anyone who streams an illegally copied film or TV show is breaking the law - just as they would be if they downloaded it.

The court explained that streaming this content "adversely affects the normal exploitation of those works and causes unreasonable prejudice to the legitimate interests of the copyright holders".

In other words, copyright owners are losing money because people are streaming content for free online, rather than paying for subscriptions.

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The ruling is significant because it means the fact that streaming only generates temporary files is no longer a legitimate defence against charges of copyright infringement.

Streaming pirated content counts as a civil offence rather than criminal one, meaning you'll only get in trouble if the copyright holder decides to sue you, but it may change the way many people think about streaming.

The news comes amid reports that record numbers of millennials are regularly streaming pirated content.

In a recent survey of North Americans between the ages of 18 and 35 by LaunchLeap , 53% admitted to having used illegal services to stream movies or TV shows over the past month, with 61% perceiving streaming as "less wrong" than downloading.

In the UK, a lot of the focus has been on Kodi, a free media player that allows users to stream films and TV programmes over the internet.

Kodi itself is not illegal , nor is it illegal to sell devices with Kodi pre-installed on them, but many people now sell Kodi devices pre-loaded with third party plug-ins and add-ons that allow users to stream pirated content to their TV.

The Federation Against Copyright Theft (FACT) has launched a major crackdown on sales of these "fully loaded" boxes, along with several law enforcement authorities.

eBay and Amazon have both banned sales of the devices on their platforms and several distributors have been fined, or in some cases imprisoned.

(Image: Gazette Live)

Of course, this doesn't stop people from buying "clean" Kodi boxes, and then downloading the copyright infringing add-ons themselves.

Many people also download the Kodi media player onto other TV streaming devices - such as Google Chromecasts or Amazon Fire TV Sticks - and install the plug-ins from there.

The Premier League is taking a different approach, going after the sources of the illegal streams, rather than those selling fully loaded Kodi boxes.

It has secured a High Court order that allows it to shut down illegal video streams of football matches on Kodi by blocking access to the computer servers on which they are hosted.