🔗 Share this article

A Denmark-based citizen has been found guilty of uploading nude segments from protected movies and television shows on the online site Reddit.

According to a law enforcement document obtained by BBC News, the anonymous individual shared 347 video excerpts of explicit content in a Reddit group he managed, which were then viewed 4.2 million-plus times.

The country's police confirm he has been given a 7-month deferred jail term for copyright infringement.

Legal analysts explain the defendant was charged under a rarely-used provision in Denmark's copyright law, with the court ruling that by removing the footage out of their original context, the accused had damaged the artists' "moral rights".

He has also been found guilty of distributing more than 25 terabytes of copyrighted data.

From March 2022 to May 2023, the man using the alias "KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted sexually explicit scenes featuring over 100 actresses.

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

According to the Denmark's anti-piracy group the Rights Alliance, his online community had more than 6,000 members and users were encouraged to ask for excerpts of particular performers.

In last year, campaigners filed the case to the police on behalf of the affected actors, directors and production companies, which resulted in the subreddit being shut down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, one of the performers whose nude scenes were shared in the group, explained to Danish media at the time she believed there was a distinction between being seen unclothed in a movie and appearing on Reddit.

The performer stated the uploads amounted to "exploitation".

'An important message'

The man was arrested in September 2024 and pleaded guilty to the allegations recently.

In a statement following the ruling, TRA head Maria Fredenslund remarked the decision sent an "important" signal "that violations of creators' rights have repercussions".

The verdict is viewed as unprecedented in Denmark for its use of the "ethical protections" section of the national copyright law, which specifies an creator's creation cannot be utilized in a manner which infringes upon their reputation.

Copyright law specialist a legal scholar told BBC News the case was "unusual" for its focus on the damage to the integrity of an performer, rather than to them economically.

How the ruling could affect nations abroad is uncertain.

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