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A Denmark-based man has been convicted of sharing nude segments from protected movies and TV series on the online platform Reddit.

According to a law enforcement report obtained by BBC News, the unnamed man shared 347 clips of nude scenes in a subreddit he moderated, which were then viewed 4.2 million times.

The country's police confirm he has been given a 7-month deferred jail term for copyright infringement.

Experts say the man was prosecuted under a seldom-invoked clause in Danish copyright law, with the court finding that by taking the footage out of their intended setting, the accused had harmed the performers' "ethical entitlements".

He has also been found guilty of distributing more than 25 terabytes of protected data.

From March 2022 to mid-2023, the user using the alias "KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted sexually explicit scenes featuring over 100 actresses.

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

According to the Danish anti-piracy organization the Rights Alliance, his online community had more than 6,000 subscribers and participants were encouraged to request excerpts of specific actors.

In 2023, advocates reported the incident to the police on behalf of the impacted actors, directors and production companies, which led to the forum being closed down.

One actress, one of the actresses whose nude content were circulated in the community, explained to local broadcasters at the period she believed there was a difference between being seen unclothed in a film and being shown on Reddit.

The performer stated the uploads constituted "abuse".

'A significant message'

The defendant was arrested in fall 2024 and pleaded guilty to the charges last month.

In a comment following the ruling, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader said the outcome sent an "important" message "indicating violations of artists' entitlements have repercussions".

The verdict is considered unprecedented in Denmark for its application of the "ethical protections" clause of the national copyright law, which specifies an creator's work cannot be used in a manner which infringes upon their reputation.

Intellectual property expert a legal scholar informed BBC News the case was "unusual" for its emphasis on the damage to the dignity of an artist, rather than to them financially.

How the ruling could affect other countries is unclear.

But she said there may be "more and more of these actions" in the future with the advancement of AI, where "the integrity of one's creative output might be tempered with with greater ease".