Brits blocked from UK Netflix access abroad after Brexit

Frozen out: Brits won't be able to watch UK Netflix services abroad
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Eleanor Rose29 March 2018

Brits will not be able to access their native Netflix services when travelling round the EU after Brexit, EU officials have confirmed.

The European Commission said in a notice that UK residents will cease to be able to stream TV on the continent because of changes to EU copyright law that will block their own country's streaming when travelling in EU member countries.

The EC notice states: “As of the withdrawal date [March 29, 2019], persons residing in the United Kingdom will no longer benefit from their digital content subscriptions when travelling to the EU.”

Currently, if you have a UK Netflix subscription and travel to Spain, you can only access the Spanish version.

New portability rules set to kick in on Sunday will let viewers see the same range of films and TV shows they would get at home, but this will change on March 29 2019.

From then on, Brits will not be able to indulge their desire for unfettered binge-watching of TV shows, as the UK will be subject to international guidelines set by bodies including the World Intellectual Property Organisation, according to the Commission.

“It should be noted that the multilateral international agreements mentioned above do not provide for the same type or level of protection … as that set out today in the EU copyright acquis,” the document says.

Many Brits appear to be attached to their Netflix subscriptions, with a fifth admitting in one survey to watching it at work.

The study, compiled by Toluna, found that Londoners were even higher up the list, with 39 per cent admitting to watching Netflix on the job compared to 24 per cent of participants from the West Midlands and 23 per cent of Scottish workers.

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