Danish man given deferred sentence for distributing explicit movie clips on Reddit
A Denmark-based man has been found guilty of sharing sexually explicit segments from copyrighted films and television shows on the social media platform Reddit.
According to a police report reviewed by BBC News, the anonymous individual posted 347 clips of explicit content in a Reddit group he managed, which were then watched 4.2 million times.
Danish authorities state he has been handed a 7-month suspended sentence for copyright infringement.
Experts say the defendant was prosecuted under a rarely-used clause in Danish intellectual property legislation, with the judge finding that by taking the scenes out of their intended setting, the man had damaged the performers' "moral rights".
He has also been convicted of sharing more than 25 TB of protected data.
From spring 2022 to mid-2023, the user using the alias "KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted sexually explicit clips featuring over 100 female performers.
He distributed them in the subreddit he was a moderator of.
According to the Danish anti-piracy organization The Rights Alliance (TRA), his subreddit had more than 6,000 members and participants were prompted to ask for clips of particular actors.
In last year, advocates filed the case to the police on behalf of the impacted actors, filmmakers and production companies, which resulted in the subreddit being closed down.
Andrea Vagn Jensen, among the actresses whose nude scenes were circulated in the group, told Danish broadcasters at the period she believed there was a distinction between appearing unclothed in a film and appearing on Reddit.
The performer stated the posts constituted "exploitation".
'An important message'
The defendant was detained in fall 2024 and admitted guilty to the charges recently.
In a comment following the verdict, the head of the Rights Alliance Maria Fredenslund said the outcome sent an "significant" signal "that violations of artists' entitlements have repercussions".
The verdict is considered unique in Denmark for its application of the "moral rights" section of the Danish Copyright Act, which specifies an creator's work cannot be used in a manner which violates their reputation.
Copyright law specialist a legal scholar told BBC News the legal matter was "rare" for its focus on the damage to the integrity of an artist, rather than to them economically.
How the case could influence nations abroad is unclear.
But she said there may be "more and more of such cases" in the coming years with the advancement of AI, where "the integrity of one's creative output might be tempered with with greater ease".
