Kodi says it is locked in a battle with “trademark trolls” that want to stop Kodi from being free.

The foundation has reiterated that the software is free to use and distribute, and says users need to be “prepared for the future, as we move forward in defending the freedom of this software that we all take for granted.”

Consumers can buy media players that are pre-installed with Kodi online.

However, Kodi says “trademark trolls” are using “threatening letters” to demand money from sellers of the devices and, in some cases, get them removed from retail sites.

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Kodi community and project manager Nathan Betzen says the problems first emerged when “Kodi” replaced the old name “XBMC” in 2014.

Mr Betzen says “a number of individuals with what appear to be less than altruistic motives”, following the name change, “attempted to register the Kodi name in various countries outside the United States with the goal of earning money off the Kodi name without doing any work beyond sending threatening letters.

“We are not entirely sure why the name change prompted this behavior. When we went by XBMC, nobody ever did the trademark squatting thing. So when it started happening with the Kodi name, we were caught flatfooted without any real plan for dealing with these trolls or even tracking their actions.”

One of these alleged trolls has been named as Geoff Gavora, who registered the Kodi trademark in Canada, and is said to be “actively blackmailing hardware vendors in an entire country” and “trying to become as rich as possible” off the back of Kodi.

According to Kodi, he “had written several letters to the Foundation over the years, expressing how important XBMC and Kodi were to him and his sales”, but is now forcing other individuals and companies in Canada to pay for the right to sell hardware with Kodi pre-installed.

“We want to let the users know that in some countries, trademark trolls are actively trying to make Kodi no longer free. By this we mean that today any user can take a clean and untouched copy of Kodi and distribute it however they please. Sell hardware with it installed. Give it away on USB sticks or online. Or, heck, a person could even sell it if they wanted to. As long as users follow our basic trademark requirements, they can do with Kodi as they please. Trademark trolls want to stop this,” said Mr Betzen.

He added: “Now, if you do a search for Kodi on Amazon.ca, there's a very real chance that every box you see is giving Gavora money to advertise that they can run what should be the entirely free and open Kodi. Gavora and his company are behaving in true trademark troll fashion.”

Several other “trolls” handed over the trademarks after being contacted by Kodi, says Mr Betzen.

“While our goal has always been to avoid going to the court to ensure Kodi remains free in countries where trolls are attempting to get rich off of the Kodi name, we will not back down from protecting the free, open source nature of our software. If that time comes for legal action, we hope to have the community's support,” Mr Betzen continued.