Danish national individual receives suspended prison term for sharing explicit film clips on the social platform Reddit
A Danish citizen has been found guilty of uploading nude scenes from protected movies and television shows on the social media platform Reddit.
Based on a police report obtained by BBC News, the unnamed individual shared 347 video excerpts of explicit content in a subreddit he moderated, which were then viewed 4.2 million-plus times.
Danish police confirm he has been given a 7-month deferred jail term for violating copyright laws.
Legal analysts say the defendant was prosecuted under a rarely-used clause in Danish intellectual property legislation, with the court finding that by removing the footage out of their intended setting, the man had damaged the performers' "ethical entitlements".
He has additionally been found guilty of sharing more than 25 TB of copyrighted digital content.
From March 2022 to May 2023, the man using the alias "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded sexually explicit clips featuring over 100 female performers.
He distributed them in the forum he was a moderator of.
Per the Danish anti-piracy organization The Rights Alliance (TRA), his online community had more than 6,000 members and participants were prompted to request excerpts of specific performers.
In 2023, campaigners filed the incident to the police on behalf of the affected actors, directors and production companies, which resulted in the forum being shut down.
Andrea Vagn Jensen, among the actresses whose nude scenes were shared in the community, explained to Danish media at the period she believed there was a distinction between being seen unclothed in a movie and being shown on Reddit.
The actress stated the posts amounted to "exploitation".
'An important signal'
The man was arrested in fall 2024 and admitted culpable to the allegations last month.
In a statement following the ruling, the head of the Rights Alliance Maria Fredenslund remarked the outcome sent an "important" message "that infringements of creators' entitlements have repercussions".
The ruling is considered unique in the country for its use of the "ethical protections" clause of the national copyright law, which states an creator's work cannot be utilized in a manner which infringes upon their standing.
Intellectual property expert a legal scholar told BBC News the case was "rare" for its emphasis on the damage 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 added there may be "an increasing number of such cases" in the coming years with the advancement of AI, where "the sanctity of an individual's work might be tempered with with greater ease".
