A Danish man has been convicted of sharing nude scenes from copyrighted films and TV series on the social media site Reddit.
According to a police document seen by BBC News, the man - who is not named in the document - shared 347 clips of nude scenes on the Reddit group he moderated, which were then viewed 4.2 million times.
The Danish police say he has been 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 finding that by taking the scenes out of their original context, the man had damaged the artists' moral rights.
He has also been convicted of sharing more than 25 terabytes of copyrighted data.
From March 2022 to May 2023, the man known as KlammereFyr on Reddit posted sexually explicit scenes featuring over 100 actresses.
He shared them in the subreddit - or forum - he was a moderator of.
According to the Danish anti-piracy group The Rights Alliance (TRA), his subreddit had more than 6,000 members and users were encouraged to request specific clips of actors.
In 2023, campaigners reported the case to the police on behalf of the affected actors, directors and producers, which resulted in the subreddit being closed down.
One of the actresses whose explicit scenes were shared, Andrea Vagn Jensen, told Danish broadcaster DR that she felt there was a difference between appearing naked in a film and appearing on Reddit, stating that the posts amounted to abuse.
'An important signal'
The man was arrested in September 2024 and pleaded guilty to the charges last month.
In a statement following the verdict, TRA head Maria Fredenslund said the ruling sent an important signal that violations of artists' rights have consequences.
The ruling is considered unique in Denmark for utilizing the moral rights section of the Danish Copyright Act, which states an artist's work cannot be used in a way which infringes upon their reputation.
Copyright law expert Dr. Alina Trapova emphasized the rarity of the case in its focus on the integrity of an artist, rather than their economic detriment, while future implications of this ruling in other countries remain unclear.
Dr. Trapova suggested that with the growth of artificial intelligence, there may be more actions regarding the integrity of artists' works.
