Danish national individual given deferred prison term for posting explicit film clips on Reddit
A Denmark-based man has been found guilty of sharing sexually explicit scenes from protected movies and TV series on the social media platform Reddit.
Based on a law enforcement document reviewed by BBC News, the anonymous individual shared 347 clips of nude content in a Reddit group he moderated, which were then watched 4.2 million-plus times.
Danish police state he has been handed a seven-month suspended jail term for violating copyright laws.
Legal analysts say the defendant was prosecuted under a rarely-used clause in Denmark's copyright law, with the court ruling that by removing the scenes out of their original context, the man had damaged the artists' "moral rights".
He has additionally been convicted of distributing more than 25 terabytes of copyrighted data.
From spring 2022 to mid-2023, the user known as "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted adult clips including over 100 female performers.
He distributed them in the forum he was a administrator of.
Per the Denmark's copyright protection group The Rights Alliance (TRA), his online community had more than 6,000 members and users were prompted to ask for clips of specific performers.
In last year, advocates filed the case to the authorities on behalf of the impacted artists, directors and production companies, which led to the forum being closed down.
One actress, among the actresses whose nude scenes were shared in the community, told Danish media at the time she felt there was a distinction between being seen naked in a film and appearing on Reddit.
The performer said the posts amounted to "exploitation".
'An important message'
The man was arrested in fall 2024 and pleaded culpable to the allegations recently.
In a comment after the verdict, TRA head Maria Fredenslund remarked the decision sent an "important" signal "that violations of artists' rights have repercussions".
The ruling is viewed as unique in Denmark for its application of the "moral rights" section of the Danish Copyright Act, which states an creator's creation cannot be utilized in a manner which infringes upon their standing.
Copyright law expert a legal scholar told the media the legal matter was "unusual" for its focus on the harm to the integrity of an performer, rather than to them economically.
The extent to which the case could affect other countries is uncertain.
But she said there may be "an increasing number of these actions" in the coming years with the growth of AI, where "the integrity of one's work might be compromised much more easily".
