🔗 Share this article

A Denmark-based man has been found guilty of uploading sexually explicit scenes from copyrighted movies and TV series on the online platform Reddit.

Based on a police report obtained by BBC News, the anonymous individual posted 347 clips of explicit scenes in a Reddit group he moderated, which were then watched 4.2 million times.

Danish police state he has been given a 7-month deferred sentence for violating copyright laws.

Legal analysts explain the man was prosecuted under a seldom-invoked provision in Denmark's copyright law, with the judge finding that by removing the scenes out of their intended setting, the accused had harmed the performers' "moral rights".

He has additionally been found guilty of sharing more than 25 terabytes of protected data.

From March 2022 to May 2023, the user known as "KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted sexually explicit scenes featuring over 100 female performers.

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

Per the Denmark's anti-piracy group the Rights Alliance, his subreddit had more than 6,000 subscribers and participants were prompted to ask for excerpts of specific performers.

In 2023, advocates filed the case to the police on behalf of the impacted artists, directors and production companies, which resulted in the forum being closed down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, among the actresses whose explicit content were shared in the group, told local media at the time she believed there was a difference between being seen unclothed in a movie and being shown on Reddit.

The actress said the uploads constituted "exploitation".

'A significant message'

The man was detained in fall 2024 and pleaded culpable to the charges last month.

In a comment following the ruling, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader said the outcome sent an "important" signal "indicating infringements of creators' rights have repercussions".

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

Copyright law specialist a legal scholar told BBC News the legal matter was "unusual" 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 uncertain.

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