Danish individual given deferred sentence for distributing explicit film clips on Reddit

A Danish citizen has been convicted of uploading sexually explicit segments from copyrighted movies and TV series on the social media platform Reddit.

According to a law enforcement report obtained by BBC News, the unnamed man posted 347 video excerpts of explicit content in a subreddit he managed, which were then viewed 4.2 million times.

The country's police state he has been given a seven-month deferred sentence for violating copyright laws.

Legal analysts say the defendant was charged under a rarely-used clause in Danish copyright law, with the judge finding that by taking the footage out of their intended setting, the man had damaged the performers' "ethical entitlements".

He has also been convicted of distributing more than 25 TB of copyrighted data.

From spring 2022 to May 2023, the user using the alias "KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted sexually explicit clips featuring over 100 actresses.

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

Per the Danish copyright protection organization The Rights Alliance (TRA), his subreddit had more than 6,000 members and users were encouraged to request excerpts of particular actors.

In last year, advocates filed the incident to the police on behalf of the affected artists, filmmakers and production companies, which resulted in the subreddit being shut down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, among the performers whose nude scenes were shared in the group, told local broadcasters at the time she believed there was a difference between being seen naked in a film and being shown on Reddit.

The actress stated the posts amounted to "abuse".

'A significant message'

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" signal "indicating violations of artists' entitlements have consequences".

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

Copyright law expert Dr Alina Trapova told BBC News the case was "unusual" for its emphasis on the harm to the dignity of an performer, rather than to them economically.

How the ruling could influence other countries is uncertain.

But she said there may be "an increasing number of such cases" in the coming years with the growth of artificial intelligence, where "the integrity of an individual's creative output might be tempered with with greater ease".