Danish national man given deferred prison term for sharing nude film clips on the social platform Reddit
A Danish man has been found guilty of uploading nude scenes from protected films and TV series on the online platform Reddit.
According to a police document reviewed by BBC News, the anonymous man shared 347 video excerpts of explicit content in a subreddit he managed, which were then viewed 4.2 million-plus times.
The country's police confirm he has been given a 7-month deferred sentence for copyright infringement.
Experts explain the man was prosecuted under a seldom-invoked provision in Danish intellectual property legislation, with the court finding that by taking the scenes out of their intended setting, the man had harmed the artists' "ethical entitlements".
He has additionally been convicted of distributing more than 25 terabytes of copyrighted digital content.
From spring 2022 to mid-2023, the man known as "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted adult clips featuring over 100 female performers.
He distributed them in the forum he was a administrator of.
According to the Danish anti-piracy organization the Rights Alliance, his online community had more than 6,000 members and participants were prompted to request clips of particular performers.
In 2023, advocates filed the incident to the authorities on behalf of the impacted actors, directors and production companies, which resulted in the forum being shut down.
One actress, one of the performers whose nude scenes were circulated in the community, told Danish media at the period she felt there was a distinction between appearing unclothed in a film and being shown on Reddit.
The performer said the uploads amounted to "abuse".
'An important signal'
The man was detained in September 2024 and pleaded culpable to the charges last month.
In a statement following the ruling, TRA head the organization's leader remarked the outcome sent an "important" signal "indicating infringements of artists' rights have consequences".
The ruling is viewed as unprecedented in the country for its use of the "ethical protections" section of the Danish Copyright Act, which specifies an artist's creation cannot be used in a way which infringes upon their standing.
Intellectual property expert a legal scholar informed BBC News the case was "unusual" for its focus on the harm to the integrity of an artist, rather than to them financially.
How the case could affect other countries is uncertain.
But she added there may be "more and more of such cases" in the future with the advancement of artificial intelligence, where "the sanctity of one's work might be tempered with much more easily".
