Danish national individual given deferred prison term for distributing nude film clips on the social platform Reddit
A Danish man has been convicted of uploading nude scenes from protected films and TV series on the social media platform Reddit.
Based on a law enforcement report reviewed by media outlets, the unnamed man posted 347 video excerpts of explicit content in a Reddit group he moderated, which were then viewed 4.2 million-plus times.
Danish authorities state he has been given a 7-month suspended sentence for violating copyright laws.
Experts explain the defendant was prosecuted under a seldom-invoked provision in Denmark's intellectual property legislation, with the court finding that by taking the scenes out of their original context, the accused had harmed the artists' "moral rights".
He has additionally been found guilty of sharing more than 25 TB of protected data.
From March 2022 to May 2023, the man using the alias "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded adult clips including over 100 actresses.
He distributed them in the subreddit he was a administrator of.
Per the Denmark's copyright protection organization The Rights Alliance (TRA), his subreddit had more than 6,000 subscribers and users were prompted to ask for excerpts of particular actors.
In 2023, advocates reported the incident to the authorities on behalf of the affected actors, filmmakers and production companies, which resulted in the subreddit being closed down.
One actress, one of the performers whose explicit scenes were circulated in the community, explained to local media at the period she believed there was a difference between appearing naked in a movie and appearing on Reddit.
The performer said the uploads constituted "exploitation".
'An important signal'
The man was detained in fall 2024 and admitted guilty to the charges last month.
In a statement following the ruling, TRA head Maria Fredenslund said the outcome sent an "important" message "indicating infringements of creators' rights have consequences".
The ruling is considered unique in the country for its application of the "ethical protections" section of the Danish Copyright Act, which specifies an creator's work cannot be used in a way which infringes upon their standing.
Copyright law expert a legal scholar informed BBC News the case was "rare" for its focus on the damage to the integrity of an performer, rather than to them financially.
How the ruling could influence other countries is uncertain.
But she said there may be "more and more of these actions" in the future with the advancement of AI, where "the integrity of an individual's work might be compromised much more easily".
