🔗 Share this article

A Danish man has been convicted of sharing sexually explicit scenes from protected movies and television shows on the online platform Reddit.

Based on a police document obtained by media outlets, the unnamed man posted 347 clips of explicit content in a subreddit he managed, which were then watched 4.2 million times.

Danish police confirm he has been handed a seven-month suspended sentence for violating copyright laws.

Legal analysts explain the man was charged under a seldom-invoked provision in Denmark's copyright law, with the court ruling that by removing the scenes out of their original context, the man had damaged the artists' "ethical entitlements".

He has also been convicted of sharing more than 25 terabytes of protected digital content.

From spring 2022 to May 2023, the user known as "KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded adult clips including over 100 actresses.

He distributed them in the subreddit he was a moderator of.

According to the Denmark's anti-piracy group The Rights Alliance (TRA), his subreddit had more than 6,000 members and participants were encouraged to ask for excerpts of particular actors.

In last year, advocates filed the incident to the police on behalf of the impacted actors, filmmakers and production companies, which resulted in the subreddit being closed down.

One actress, among the performers whose nude scenes were circulated in the group, explained to Danish broadcasters at the period she believed there was a distinction between appearing naked in a film and appearing on Reddit.

The actress stated the uploads constituted "exploitation".

'An important signal'

The man was arrested in fall 2024 and admitted culpable to the allegations last month.

In a comment after the verdict, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader remarked the decision sent an "significant" message "indicating infringements of artists' entitlements has consequences".

The ruling is viewed as unique in the country for its application of the "moral rights" section of the Danish Copyright Act, which specifies an artist's creation cannot be used in a manner which infringes upon their reputation.

Intellectual property specialist Dr Alina Trapova informed BBC News the case was "rare" for its emphasis on the damage to the integrity of an performer, rather than to them financially.

The extent to which the case could influence nations abroad is unclear.

But she added there may be "more and more of such cases" in the coming years with the growth of AI, where "the integrity of one's creative output might be compromised much more easily".