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A Denmark-based citizen has been found guilty of uploading nude scenes from copyrighted movies and television shows on the social media platform Reddit.

Based on a law enforcement document obtained by BBC News, the anonymous individual shared 347 video excerpts of nude content in a subreddit he moderated, which were then watched 4.2 million times.

Danish authorities state he has been handed a 7-month suspended jail term for copyright infringement.

Legal analysts explain the man 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 original context, the man had damaged the performers' "moral rights".

He has additionally been found guilty of sharing more than 25 terabytes of copyrighted digital content.

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

He distributed them in the subreddit 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 participants were prompted to request excerpts of specific actors.

In 2023, campaigners reported the incident to the police on behalf of the impacted artists, directors and producers, which resulted in the forum being closed down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, one of the performers whose explicit scenes were shared in the group, explained to Danish broadcasters at the time she believed there was a distinction between appearing unclothed in a film and appearing on Reddit.

The actress said the uploads constituted "exploitation".

'An important message'

The man was arrested in fall 2024 and pleaded culpable to the charges last month.

In a statement after the verdict, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader remarked the decision sent an "important" signal "indicating violations of creators' rights have consequences".

The ruling is viewed as unique in Denmark for its use of the "ethical protections" section of the Danish Copyright Act, which states an creator's work cannot be utilized in a way which infringes upon their reputation.

Copyright law expert a legal scholar told the media the case was "unusual" for its emphasis on the damage to the integrity of an performer, rather than to them economically.

The extent to which the ruling could affect nations abroad is uncertain.

But she added there may be "more and more of these actions" in the coming years with the advancement of artificial intelligence, where "the integrity of an individual's creative output might be compromised with greater ease".