🔗 Share this article

A Denmark-based citizen has been found guilty of uploading nude segments from copyrighted films and TV series on the online platform Reddit.

Based on a police report reviewed by BBC News, the anonymous man shared 347 clips of explicit scenes in a Reddit group he managed, which were then watched 4.2 million-plus times.

The country's authorities state he has been handed a 7-month deferred sentence for violating copyright laws.

Legal analysts say the defendant was charged under a rarely-used clause in Danish intellectual property legislation, with the judge finding that by removing the footage out of their intended setting, the man had harmed the performers' "ethical entitlements".

He has additionally been convicted of distributing more than 25 terabytes of protected digital content.

From March 2022 to mid-2023, the user using the alias "KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded adult clips including over 100 female performers.

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

Per the Danish copyright protection group the Rights Alliance, his online community had more than 6,000 subscribers and participants were prompted to request clips of particular performers.

In 2023, campaigners reported the case to the police on behalf of the affected artists, directors and producers, which resulted in the forum being shut down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, among the performers whose explicit content were circulated in the group, explained to local media at the time she believed there was a difference between being seen unclothed in a film and being shown on Reddit.

The performer stated the uploads amounted to "abuse".

'A significant signal'

The man was detained in fall 2024 and admitted guilty to the allegations last month.

In a statement after the verdict, TRA head the organization's leader said the outcome sent an "significant" signal "that infringements of artists' entitlements has consequences".

The verdict is viewed as unique in the country for its application of the "ethical protections" clause of the national copyright law, which specifies an artist's creation cannot be used in a manner which violates their standing.

Copyright law specialist a legal scholar told the media the case was "unusual" for its focus on the damage to the dignity of an performer, rather than to them economically.

The extent to which the case could affect other countries is uncertain.

But she said there may be "more and more of these actions" in the future with the growth of AI, where "the sanctity of one's creative output might be compromised much more easily".