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A Danish citizen has been convicted of uploading nude scenes from copyrighted films and television shows on the social media platform Reddit.

According to a police document obtained by media outlets, the anonymous man posted 347 video excerpts of explicit scenes in a Reddit group he moderated, which were then watched 4.2 million times.

The country's authorities state he has been given a 7-month deferred jail term for violating copyright laws.

Legal analysts say the man was prosecuted under a rarely-used provision in Danish intellectual property legislation, with the court ruling that by removing the footage out of their intended setting, the man had harmed the performers' "ethical entitlements".

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

From spring 2022 to mid-2023, the man known as "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded adult clips including over 100 female performers.

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

Per the Danish copyright protection group the Rights Alliance, his subreddit had more than 6,000 members and users were encouraged to ask for excerpts of particular actors.

In last year, advocates reported the incident to the police on behalf of the impacted artists, directors and producers, which resulted in the subreddit being shut down.

One actress, among the performers whose nude content were shared in the community, told local media at the period she felt there was a distinction between being seen unclothed in a movie and being shown on Reddit.

The actress said the uploads amounted to "exploitation".

'A significant signal'

The defendant was arrested in September 2024 and pleaded culpable to the allegations recently.

In a statement after the ruling, TRA head Maria Fredenslund said the decision sent an "significant" message "indicating violations of artists' entitlements has repercussions".

The verdict is considered unprecedented in the country for its application of the "moral rights" clause of the national copyright law, which specifies an creator's creation cannot be utilized in a way which infringes upon their standing.

Copyright law expert a legal scholar told BBC News the case was "rare" for its emphasis on the damage to the dignity of an performer, rather than to them economically.

How the case could influence other countries is uncertain.

But she added there may be "more and more of these actions" in the coming years with the advancement of AI, where "the sanctity of an individual's work might be compromised much more easily".