Illegal Streaming Is Now A Felony

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The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee approved a bill yesterday that would make illegal streaming of copyrighted content a felony.

The bill, known as the Commercial Felony Streaming Act, addresses what some lawmakers are calling a loophole in current copyright-infringement laws. It is currently a felony to download or upload copyrighted content, but streaming is not expressly prohibited. This bill would add that streaming copyrighted content would also be a punishable offense.

If the bill is eventually passed by lawmakers, it would allow for infringers streaming content for commercial purposes to be sentenced to up to five years in prison. According to the bill's text, infringers will be charged when "the offense consists of 10 or more public performances by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of 1 or more copyrighted works."