Danish man given deferred sentence for sharing explicit film scenes on Reddit
A Denmark-based man has been convicted of sharing sexually explicit scenes from copyrighted movies and TV series on the social media site Reddit.
According to a law enforcement report obtained by media outlets, the anonymous man shared 347 clips of explicit content in a subreddit he moderated, which were then watched 4.2 million times.
Danish police state he has been handed a seven-month deferred sentence for violating copyright laws.
Experts say the defendant was charged under a seldom-invoked clause in Danish copyright law, with the judge finding that by removing the footage out of their intended setting, the man had damaged the performers' "moral rights".
He has also been found guilty of distributing more than 25 terabytes of protected data.
From spring 2022 to mid-2023, the man known as "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded adult scenes featuring over 100 female performers.
He distributed them in the subreddit he was a moderator of.
According to the Danish copyright protection organization the Rights Alliance, his online community had more than 6,000 members and users were prompted to request clips of specific actors.
In last year, campaigners filed the case to the authorities on behalf of the affected actors, filmmakers and producers, which resulted in the forum being shut down.
Andrea Vagn Jensen, one of the performers whose nude content were circulated in the group, explained to Danish broadcasters at the time she believed there was a difference between being seen naked in a movie and appearing on Reddit.
The actress said the uploads amounted to "exploitation".
'An important message'
The defendant was detained in September 2024 and pleaded guilty to the charges recently.
In a statement 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 have repercussions".
The verdict is considered unique in the country for its use of the "ethical protections" clause of the national copyright law, which states an creator's work cannot be utilized in a way which violates their reputation.
Intellectual property expert Dr Alina Trapova informed the media the legal matter was "rare" for its emphasis on the damage to the integrity of an artist, rather than to them financially.
How the ruling could influence nations abroad is uncertain.
But she said there may be "more and more of such cases" in the future with the growth of AI, where "the integrity of an individual's creative output might be compromised much more easily".
