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A Denmark-based man has been convicted of uploading nude segments from copyrighted movies and TV series on the social media platform Reddit.

According to a law enforcement document reviewed by BBC News, the anonymous man shared 347 clips of explicit content in a subreddit he managed, which were then viewed 4.2 million times.

The country's police state he has been given a seven-month suspended sentence for copyright infringement.

Experts say the defendant was charged under a rarely-used provision in Denmark's intellectual property legislation, with the court finding that by taking the scenes out of their intended setting, the accused had harmed the artists' "moral rights".

He has additionally been found guilty of sharing more than 25 TB of copyrighted data.

From March 2022 to May 2023, the user known as "KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded adult scenes including over 100 actresses.

He shared them in the subreddit he was a moderator of.

According to the Denmark's copyright protection organization the Rights Alliance, his online community had more than 6,000 subscribers and users were encouraged to request excerpts of specific performers.

In 2023, advocates reported the incident to the police on behalf of the affected artists, directors and production companies, which led to the subreddit being closed down.

One actress, among the actresses whose nude scenes were shared in the community, told Danish broadcasters at the time she felt there was a difference between being seen unclothed in a movie and appearing on Reddit.

The performer said the posts amounted to "abuse".

'An important signal'

The man was arrested in fall 2024 and admitted guilty to the allegations last month.

In a comment following the verdict, TRA head the organization's leader said the outcome sent an "important" message "that infringements of creators' rights has consequences".

The verdict is viewed as unique in the country for its use of the "ethical protections" section of the national copyright law, which states an creator's creation cannot be utilized in a way which violates their reputation.

Intellectual property expert a legal scholar informed the media the case was "rare" for its emphasis on the damage to the dignity of an performer, rather than to them financially.

How the case could influence other countries is uncertain.

But she added there may be "an increasing number of these actions" in the coming years with the growth of artificial intelligence, where "the sanctity of an individual's creative output might be tempered with with greater ease".