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A Denmark-based man has been found guilty of uploading nude segments from protected films and TV series on the social media platform Reddit.

Based on a police report obtained by BBC News, the unnamed individual shared 347 clips of nude scenes in a Reddit group he moderated, which were then viewed 4.2 million times.

Danish authorities state he has been handed a seven-month deferred jail term for copyright infringement.

Legal analysts say the defendant was prosecuted under a seldom-invoked clause in Danish intellectual property legislation, with the court ruling that by removing the scenes out of their original context, the accused had damaged the artists' "moral rights".

He has also been convicted of sharing more than 25 TB of protected digital content.

From spring 2022 to May 2023, the user known as "KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded adult clips featuring over 100 female performers.

He shared them in the forum he was a administrator of.

According to the Danish anti-piracy group The Rights Alliance (TRA), his online community had more than 6,000 subscribers and users were prompted to ask for excerpts of particular actors.

In last year, campaigners filed the incident to the authorities on behalf of the affected actors, directors and producers, which led to the subreddit being closed down.

One actress, among the actresses whose nude content were shared in the community, told Danish broadcasters at the period she believed there was a distinction between appearing naked in a film and being shown on Reddit.

The actress said the uploads constituted "abuse".

'An important signal'

The defendant was detained in September 2024 and pleaded guilty to the allegations last month.

In a statement after the verdict, TRA head Maria Fredenslund said the decision sent an "important" signal "that violations of creators' rights has repercussions".

The verdict is considered unprecedented in Denmark for its application of the "moral rights" clause of the national copyright law, which states an creator's creation cannot be utilized in a way which violates their reputation.

Copyright law expert a legal scholar informed BBC News the legal matter was "unusual" for its focus on the damage to the integrity of an artist, 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 future with the advancement of artificial intelligence, where "the integrity of one's work might be tempered with much more easily".