Swedish-based video-on-demand firm Voddler has launched LiveShelf, which the company describes as the world’s first legal film storage and sharing service. It is currently available to users in Scandinavia and Spain, with expansion into Europe and Russia expected shortly. The product combines digital locker technology with file sharing, allowing users to invite friends to stream their legally acquired films via the Internet.

Streaming can happen on PCs or mobile devices. The file sharing feature, “called ViewShare, allows users to create a limited network of friends who can watch films saved in a customer’s LiveShelf online locker — either titles bought or rented digitally or uploaded from a user’s own movie file,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Voddler CEO Marcus Backlund says the technology “embraces the fact that people have always lent movies to each other. It lets us all continue to invite our friends to watch the films we have on the LiveShelf just like we have always done in the living room.”

ViewShare users and friends wanting to view the movies will pay a monthly subscriber fee, which Voddler then splits with its rights holders. The company is backed by Nokia and investment firm Cipio Partners.

“According to the Scandinavian group, which bills itself as a rival in Europe to companies like Netflix and Amazon’s LoveFilm, the service will generate new revenue streams for content owners by ‘monetizing social viewing,'” explains THR.