Jakob Engel Schmidt.
Denmark’s Ministry of Culture has moved to remove controversial references to VPN use from a draft anti-piracy bill, after public debate over whether the proposals could be read as outlawing legitimate VPN services.
In a statement, Culture Minister Jakob Engel-Schmidt said he does not want to criminalise “ordinary and legal” VPN use and confirmed the VPN section will be taken out ahead of any parliamentary submission.
What remains on track is the bill’s copyright-licensing element: reforms to the Ophavsretslicensnævnet (Copyright Licence Tribunal) intended to make it the primary dispute-resolution route for disagreements over licensing terms and tariffs, with court action generally following tribunal consideration if one party requests it.
However, the Ministry also indicated it is taking the wider “online piracy” package back for further work, and will now examine whether that part can be adjusted and sent out for consultation again at a later date.
The draft anti-piracy proposals (as consulted) centred on rewriting Section 91 of the Radio and Television Broadcasting Act into a technology-neutral ban covering the manufacture, import and sale — and also the acquisition, possession, installation and use — of “equipment, software or other technical solutions” intended to provide unauthorised access to encrypted or otherwise access-restricted content services, explicitly applying to private use as well as commercial activity.
The draft also added a specific prohibition on advertising and promotion of such tools and services, with penalties set out as fines, and the possibility of imprisonment of up to 1 year and 6 months in aggravated cases under existing provisions.
The consultation on the combined package was published on 10 December 2025 and runs until 9 January 2026, with an indicative effective date of 1 July 2026 — though the timetable for the anti-piracy section now looks less certain given the Ministry’s decision to revisit that element.
