Danish man receives deferred sentence for distributing explicit film scenes on Reddit
A Danish citizen has been found guilty of uploading sexually explicit segments from protected movies and TV series on the online platform Reddit.
According to a police document reviewed by media outlets, the anonymous man shared 347 video excerpts of explicit scenes in a Reddit group he moderated, which were then watched 4.2 million times.
The country's police confirm he has been handed a 7-month suspended sentence for copyright infringement.
Legal analysts explain the defendant was prosecuted under a seldom-invoked provision in Denmark's copyright law, with the court finding that by removing the footage out of their original context, the accused had harmed the artists' "ethical entitlements".
He has additionally been convicted of sharing more than 25 TB of copyrighted data.
From spring 2022 to May 2023, the man using the alias "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded adult scenes featuring over 100 actresses.
He shared them in the forum he was a moderator of.
Per the Danish anti-piracy group the Rights Alliance, his subreddit had more than 6,000 members and users 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 forum being closed down.
One actress, one of the actresses whose nude scenes were shared in the group, explained to Danish broadcasters at the time she believed there was a distinction between appearing naked in a film and appearing on Reddit.
The actress said the uploads amounted to "exploitation".
'A significant message'
The defendant was detained in September 2024 and pleaded guilty to the allegations recently.
In a comment after the ruling, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader remarked the decision sent an "important" message "that violations of artists' entitlements has consequences".
The verdict is viewed as unique in Denmark for its use of the "ethical protections" clause of the national copyright law, which states an artist's work cannot be used in a manner which violates their standing.
Intellectual property specialist a legal scholar told BBC News the legal matter was "unusual" for its emphasis on the harm to the dignity of an artist, rather than to them financially.
How the case could influence other countries is unclear.
But she added there may be "an increasing number of these actions" in the future with the growth of AI, where "the integrity of one's work might be compromised with greater ease".