Media agency and director convicted for unlawful sharing of news articles

The media agency Pressconnect ApS and the company’s director have been convicted by the Copenhagen City Court in a case concerning copyright infringements involving the unlawful sharing of news articles with clients.

The company was fined DKK 25,000 for particularly serious copyright infringements, while the owner and director, a 55-year-old man, received a suspended prison sentence of 60 days. The case was investigated and prosecuted by the National Unit for Special Crime (NSK).

According to the case, the violations took place between June 2018 and June 2020. During that period, the company shared at least 650 news articles with 2,845 recipients at 19 client companies. Of the articles, 194 required special subscription access.

According to the case, the sharing took place under instructions from the director and without the company having agreements regarding payment and distribution with the rights holders behind the articles.

NSK prosecutor Gustav Søe said he was satisfied with the verdict.

“For an extended period, the media agency maintained a practice of distributing copyright-protected articles to its clients without having the rights to do so. In this way, both the media agency and its clients obtained an unlawful gain,” he said.

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