Danish man given suspended sentence for sharing nude film scenes on Reddit

A Dane has been found guilty of posting nude scenes from copyrighted films and TV series on the social networking site Reddit.

According to a police document seen by BBC News, the man, who is not named in the document, shared 347 nude clips in a Reddit group he moderated, which were then viewed 4.2 million times.

Danish police say he was given a seven-month suspended sentence for copyright infringement.

Experts say the man was prosecuted under a rarely used clause in Danish copyright law, with the judge concluding that by taking the scenes out of their original context, the man had harmed the “moral rights” of the artists.

He was also found guilty of distributing more than 25 terabytes of copyrighted data.

From March 2022 to May 2023, a man known as “ClammereFire” posted sexually explicit scenes involving more than 100 actresses on Reddit.

He shared them on a subreddit or forum that he moderated.

According to the Danish anti-piracy group Rights Alliance (TRA)its subreddit had over 6,000 members, and users were encouraged to request clips of specific actors.

In 2023, campaigners reported the case to the police on behalf of the affected actors, directors and producers, leading to the closure of the subreddit.

Andrea Van Jensen, one of the actresses whose explicit scenes were shown in the group, told then the Danish TV channel DR she felt there was a difference between appearing nude in a movie and appearing on Reddit.

The actress called these posts “an insult.”

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

In a statement after the verdict, TRA chief Maria Fredenslund said the ruling sent an “important” message “that violations of artists' rights have consequences.”

This ruling is considered unique in Denmark due to the use of the “moral rights” section of the Danish Copyright Act, which states that an artist's work cannot be used in a way that damages his reputation.

Copyright expert Dr Alina Trapova told the BBC the case was “rare” as it focused on damage to the artist's integrity rather than economic damage.

How the case might affect other countries is unclear.

But she said there could be “more and more of this kind of activity” in the future with advances in artificial intelligence, where “the integrity of the work can be monitored much more easily.”