🔗 Share this article

A Denmark-based man has been found guilty of uploading nude segments from copyrighted films and television shows on the online site Reddit.

According to a law enforcement report obtained by BBC News, the anonymous individual posted 347 clips of explicit content in a Reddit group he moderated, which were then viewed 4.2 million times.

Danish police confirm he has been given a seven-month suspended sentence for violating copyright laws.

Legal analysts say the man was charged under a seldom-invoked clause in Denmark's copyright law, with the court ruling that by taking the scenes out of their original context, the accused had damaged the artists' "ethical entitlements".

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

From March 2022 to May 2023, the user using the alias "KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded adult scenes featuring over 100 female performers.

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

According to the Danish anti-piracy organization The Rights Alliance (TRA), his online community had more than 6,000 subscribers and participants were encouraged to ask for excerpts of particular actors.

In last year, campaigners reported the case to the police on behalf of the impacted actors, directors and producers, which resulted in the subreddit being closed down.

One actress, one of the performers whose nude scenes were circulated in the community, explained to local broadcasters at the time she felt there was a distinction between being seen naked in a movie and being shown on Reddit.

The performer stated the uploads constituted "abuse".

'A significant signal'

The defendant was detained in September 2024 and admitted culpable to the charges recently.

In a statement after the verdict, the head of the Rights Alliance Maria Fredenslund remarked the outcome sent an "significant" signal "that violations of creators' entitlements has repercussions".

The verdict is viewed as unprecedented in the country for its application of the "moral rights" section of the Danish Copyright Act, which specifies an artist's creation cannot be utilized in a manner which infringes upon their standing.

Intellectual property expert a legal scholar informed the media the legal matter was "unusual" for its focus on the damage to the integrity of an performer, rather than to them economically.

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

But she added there may be "an increasing number of these actions" in the future with the growth of artificial intelligence, where "the integrity of one's work might be tempered with much more easily".