Danish national man receives deferred sentence for posting explicit film clips on Reddit
A Danish citizen has been convicted of sharing sexually explicit scenes from protected movies and television shows on the social media platform Reddit.
According to a law enforcement report reviewed by media outlets, the unnamed individual posted 347 clips of nude content in a subreddit he managed, which were then watched 4.2 million-plus times.
The country's authorities state he has been handed a 7-month deferred sentence for copyright infringement.
Legal analysts explain the defendant was prosecuted under a rarely-used provision in Danish intellectual property legislation, with the court finding that by taking the scenes out of their original context, the accused had damaged the performers' "moral rights".
He has also been found guilty of sharing more than 25 TB of copyrighted digital content.
From spring 2022 to May 2023, the user using the alias "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted sexually explicit scenes featuring over 100 female performers.
He shared them in the forum he was a administrator of.
According to the Danish anti-piracy organization the Rights Alliance, his subreddit had more than 6,000 members and users were prompted to request excerpts of particular performers.
In 2023, advocates reported the case to the authorities on behalf of the impacted actors, directors and producers, which resulted in the subreddit being closed down.
One actress, one of the actresses whose explicit scenes were shared in the community, told local media at the period she believed there was a distinction between being seen naked in a movie and being shown on Reddit.
The actress stated the uploads amounted to "exploitation".
'An important signal'
The man was arrested in September 2024 and admitted culpable to the charges last month.
In a statement following the verdict, TRA head Maria Fredenslund said the outcome sent an "significant" message "indicating violations of creators' rights has repercussions".
The verdict is viewed as unique in Denmark for its application of the "moral rights" section of the Danish Copyright Act, which specifies an creator's creation cannot be used in a way which infringes upon their reputation.
Copyright law expert Dr Alina Trapova informed BBC News the case was "unusual" for its emphasis on the damage to the dignity of an performer, rather than to them financially.
How the ruling could influence nations abroad is unclear.
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 with greater ease".
