Danish national man given deferred prison term for sharing explicit movie clips on Reddit
A Danish citizen has been found guilty of sharing nude segments from copyrighted movies and TV series on the social media platform Reddit.
According to a law enforcement document reviewed by media outlets, the unnamed individual posted 347 clips of explicit content in a subreddit he managed, which were then watched 4.2 million times.
The country's authorities confirm he has been handed a seven-month deferred sentence for copyright infringement.
Legal analysts explain the man was charged under a rarely-used clause in Denmark's intellectual property legislation, with the court ruling that by removing the footage out of their intended setting, the man had damaged the performers' "moral rights".
He has also been convicted of distributing more than 25 terabytes of copyrighted digital content.
From spring 2022 to mid-2023, the user known as "KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded sexually explicit clips featuring over 100 actresses.
He distributed them in the forum he was a administrator of.
According to the Danish copyright protection group The Rights Alliance (TRA), his subreddit had more than 6,000 subscribers and participants were encouraged to ask for excerpts of particular actors.
In 2023, campaigners reported the case to the police on behalf of the impacted actors, directors and producers, which resulted in the subreddit being shut down.
Andrea Vagn Jensen, one of the actresses whose nude content were circulated in the community, explained to Danish broadcasters at the period she felt there was a distinction between appearing unclothed in a movie and appearing on Reddit.
The performer said the posts amounted to "exploitation".
'An important message'
The man was arrested in fall 2024 and pleaded guilty to the allegations last month.
In a statement following the verdict, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader remarked the decision sent an "important" message "indicating infringements of creators' rights have consequences".
The ruling is viewed as unprecedented in the country for its use of the "moral rights" section of the Danish Copyright Act, which states an artist's work cannot be utilized in a manner which violates their reputation.
Copyright law expert Dr Alina Trapova told the media the case was "rare" for its focus on the harm to the integrity of an performer, rather than to them financially.
The extent to which the ruling could influence other countries is unclear.
But she said there may be "an increasing number of these actions" in the coming years with the growth of artificial intelligence, where "the sanctity of an individual's work might be tempered with with greater ease".
