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A Danish man has been found guilty of uploading nude scenes from copyrighted movies and television shows on the social media platform Reddit.

According to a police report reviewed by BBC News, the anonymous man posted 347 clips of nude content in a subreddit he managed, which were then watched 4.2 million times.

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

Legal analysts explain the defendant was prosecuted under a seldom-invoked provision in Denmark's intellectual property legislation, with the judge finding that by removing the scenes out of their original context, the man had damaged the performers' "moral rights".

He has also been convicted of distributing more than 25 terabytes of protected digital content.

From March 2022 to May 2023, the user using the alias "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted adult clips featuring over 100 female performers.

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

According to the Danish copyright protection group the Rights Alliance, his subreddit had more than 6,000 members and participants were prompted to request excerpts of specific actors.

In 2023, campaigners filed the case to the police on behalf of the affected actors, directors and producers, which led to the subreddit being shut down.

One actress, one of the performers whose nude content were circulated in the group, told local media at the time she believed there was a distinction between being seen unclothed in a movie and being shown on Reddit.

The performer stated the uploads constituted "exploitation".

'An important signal'

The defendant was arrested in fall 2024 and pleaded culpable to the charges recently.

In a statement following the verdict, TRA head Maria Fredenslund said the outcome sent an "important" message "indicating infringements of creators' rights has consequences".

The verdict is viewed as unique in Denmark for its use of the "ethical protections" clause of the Danish Copyright Act, which states an creator's work cannot be utilized in a way which violates their standing.

Copyright law specialist a legal scholar informed BBC News the legal matter was "rare" for its emphasis on the harm to the dignity of an performer, rather than to them financially.

The extent to which 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".