🔗 Share this article

A Danish man has been found guilty of uploading sexually explicit scenes from copyrighted films and television shows on the social media platform Reddit.

Based on a police document reviewed by BBC News, the unnamed man shared 347 clips of nude content in a Reddit group he managed, which were then watched 4.2 million-plus times.

Danish authorities confirm he has been given a seven-month deferred sentence for copyright infringement.

Legal analysts explain the man was prosecuted under a seldom-invoked clause in Danish copyright law, with the court ruling that by taking the footage out of their original context, the man had harmed the performers' "moral rights".

He has additionally been convicted of distributing more than 25 TB of protected digital content.

From March 2022 to mid-2023, the user known as "KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted sexually explicit scenes including over 100 actresses.

He shared them in the forum he was a administrator of.

Per the Denmark's copyright protection group The Rights Alliance (TRA), his subreddit had more than 6,000 members and users were prompted to ask for excerpts of specific performers.

In 2023, advocates reported the case to the police on behalf of the impacted artists, directors and producers, which led to the forum being shut down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, one of the performers whose explicit scenes were circulated in the community, told local broadcasters at the period she believed there was a difference between appearing naked in a movie and being shown on Reddit.

The actress said the posts constituted "abuse".

'A significant message'

The defendant was detained in fall 2024 and admitted culpable to the allegations last month.

In a statement following the verdict, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader remarked the outcome sent an "significant" message "indicating infringements of artists' rights have repercussions".

The verdict is considered unique in Denmark for its use of the "moral rights" clause of the Danish Copyright Act, which specifies an artist's creation cannot be used in a way which infringes upon their standing.

Copyright law expert a legal scholar told BBC News the legal matter was "unusual" for its emphasis on the harm to the integrity of an performer, rather than to them economically.

The extent to which the ruling could affect nations abroad is uncertain.

But she added there may be "more and more of these actions" in the future with the growth of artificial intelligence, where "the sanctity of one's work might be compromised much more easily".