Danish man receives suspended prison term for sharing explicit film scenes on the social platform Reddit
A Denmark-based citizen has been found guilty of uploading sexually explicit segments from protected films and TV series on the online platform Reddit.
Based on a police document reviewed by media outlets, the anonymous individual shared 347 video excerpts of nude scenes in a subreddit he moderated, which were then watched 4.2 million times.
Danish authorities confirm he has been handed a 7-month suspended sentence for violating copyright laws.
Experts say the man was charged under a rarely-used clause in Danish intellectual property legislation, with the judge finding that by removing the footage out of their intended setting, the man had harmed the performers' "moral rights".
He has also been found guilty of distributing more than 25 terabytes of copyrighted digital content.
From March 2022 to May 2023, the man known as "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted sexually explicit scenes featuring over 100 actresses.
He shared them in the forum he was a administrator of.
According to the Denmark's copyright protection organization the Rights Alliance, his subreddit had more than 6,000 subscribers and users were encouraged to request excerpts of particular actors.
In 2023, advocates filed the case to the police on behalf of the impacted artists, filmmakers and production companies, which resulted in the subreddit being shut down.
Andrea Vagn Jensen, among the performers whose explicit scenes were shared in the community, explained to Danish broadcasters at the period she felt there was a difference between appearing unclothed in a film and being shown on Reddit.
The performer stated the posts amounted to "abuse".
'An important signal'
The man was detained in fall 2024 and admitted culpable to the charges last month.
In a statement following the verdict, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader remarked the outcome sent an "important" message "indicating infringements of artists' rights has consequences".
The verdict is considered unique in Denmark for its application of the "moral rights" clause of the Danish Copyright Act, which specifies an artist's creation cannot be used in a manner which violates their reputation.
Copyright law specialist Dr Alina Trapova told BBC News the case was "rare" for its focus on the harm to the dignity of an performer, rather than to them financially.
How the case could influence other countries is unclear.
But she said there may be "an increasing number of such cases" in the coming years with the advancement of AI, where "the integrity of one's creative output might be tempered with much more easily".