Danish individual receives deferred sentence for sharing nude movie scenes on the social platform Reddit
A Denmark-based man has been convicted of sharing nude scenes from protected films and television shows on the social media site Reddit.
Based on a police document obtained by BBC News, the unnamed man posted 347 clips of explicit content in a subreddit he moderated, which were then viewed 4.2 million-plus times.
Danish police confirm he has been handed a seven-month suspended jail term for copyright infringement.
Experts explain the defendant was prosecuted under a seldom-invoked clause in Danish intellectual property legislation, with the judge finding that by taking the footage out of their original context, the accused had harmed the performers' "ethical entitlements".
He has additionally been found guilty of sharing more than 25 TB of protected data.
From spring 2022 to May 2023, the man known as "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded adult clips including over 100 female performers.
He distributed them in the subreddit he was a administrator of.
Per the Denmark's anti-piracy organization the Rights Alliance, his subreddit had more than 6,000 subscribers and users were encouraged to ask for excerpts of particular performers.
In 2023, advocates filed the incident to the authorities on behalf of the affected artists, filmmakers and production companies, which resulted in the subreddit being closed down.
One actress, one of the performers whose explicit content were circulated in the community, told local media at the period she felt there was a difference between appearing unclothed in a movie and being shown on Reddit.
The performer stated the uploads constituted "abuse".
'An important signal'
The man was detained in September 2024 and admitted culpable to the charges last month.
In a comment after the ruling, the head of the Rights Alliance Maria Fredenslund remarked the decision sent an "important" message "that violations of creators' rights have consequences".
The ruling is considered unprecedented in the country for its application of the "ethical protections" section of the Danish Copyright Act, which states an creator's work cannot be used in a way which infringes upon their reputation.
Copyright law expert Dr Alina Trapova informed BBC News the legal matter was "unusual" for its emphasis on the harm to the integrity of an performer, rather than to them financially.
The extent to which the case could affect other countries is unclear.
But she said there may be "an increasing number of such cases" in the coming years with the growth of artificial intelligence, where "the sanctity of an individual's work might be tempered with much more easily".
