🔗 Share this article

A Danish man has been found guilty of uploading sexually explicit segments from copyrighted movies and television shows on the social media site Reddit.

According to a police report reviewed by media outlets, the unnamed individual shared 347 video excerpts of explicit content in a Reddit group he managed, which were then watched 4.2 million-plus times.

Danish authorities state he has been handed a 7-month suspended jail term for copyright infringement.

Legal analysts explain the defendant was charged under a rarely-used clause in Denmark's copyright law, with the court ruling that by removing the footage out of their original context, the man had damaged the performers' "ethical entitlements".

He has additionally been found guilty of distributing more than 25 TB of copyrighted digital content.

From spring 2022 to mid-2023, the man using the alias "KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted sexually explicit scenes featuring over 100 female performers.

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

Per the Denmark's anti-piracy group The Rights Alliance (TRA), his subreddit had more than 6,000 subscribers and users were encouraged to ask for clips of specific actors.

In 2023, advocates filed the incident to the authorities on behalf of the affected artists, directors and producers, which led to the subreddit being closed down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, among the actresses whose nude content were circulated in the group, told Danish media at the period she believed there was a distinction between being seen unclothed in a movie and being shown on Reddit.

The actress stated the uploads amounted to "exploitation".

'A significant message'

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

In a statement after the verdict, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader remarked the outcome sent an "important" signal "that violations of creators' entitlements have repercussions".

The verdict is viewed as unique in the country for its application of the "ethical protections" clause of the Danish Copyright Act, which specifies an creator's work cannot be utilized in a way which infringes upon their standing.

Copyright law specialist Dr Alina Trapova informed the media the case was "rare" for its emphasis on the harm to the integrity of an performer, rather than to them financially.

How the ruling could influence other countries is unclear.

But she added 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".