Danish individual given suspended prison term for distributing nude movie clips on the social platform Reddit

A Danish citizen has been convicted of sharing sexually explicit scenes from protected films and TV series on the social media platform Reddit.

According to a police document obtained by BBC News, the anonymous individual shared 347 video excerpts of nude scenes in a subreddit he moderated, which were then viewed 4.2 million times.

The country's authorities confirm he has been handed a seven-month deferred jail term for copyright infringement.

Legal analysts say the man was prosecuted under a seldom-invoked provision in Denmark's intellectual property legislation, with the judge finding that by taking the footage out of their original context, the man had damaged the artists' "moral rights".

He has also been found guilty of sharing more than 25 terabytes of copyrighted digital content.

From March 2022 to mid-2023, the man using the alias "KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded adult scenes including over 100 actresses.

He distributed them in the forum he was a administrator of.

According to the Danish anti-piracy group the Rights Alliance, his online community had more than 6,000 subscribers and participants were prompted to request excerpts of specific actors.

In 2023, campaigners reported the incident to the authorities on behalf of the affected actors, filmmakers and production companies, which resulted in the subreddit being closed down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, among the performers whose explicit content were shared in the group, explained to Danish media at the period she felt there was a difference between appearing naked in a film and appearing on Reddit.

The performer stated the uploads constituted "abuse".

'A significant message'

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

In a statement after the ruling, TRA head Maria Fredenslund remarked the outcome sent an "significant" message "that violations of artists' entitlements has repercussions".

The verdict is considered unprecedented in the country for its application of the "moral rights" clause of the national copyright law, which states an creator's work cannot be utilized in a way which violates their standing.

Intellectual property expert a legal scholar informed the media the case was "rare" for its focus on the harm to the dignity of an artist, rather than to them financially.

How the case could influence other countries 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 sanctity of an individual's work might be compromised much more easily".