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A Danish man has been convicted of uploading nude segments from copyrighted movies and TV series on the online platform Reddit.

According to a law enforcement report reviewed by BBC News, the unnamed individual posted 347 clips of nude content in a Reddit group he managed, which were then watched 4.2 million-plus times.

Danish police state he has been given a seven-month suspended jail term for copyright infringement.

Legal analysts say the man was prosecuted under a rarely-used provision in Danish intellectual property legislation, with the court ruling that by taking the scenes out of their original context, the man had damaged the artists' "moral rights".

He has also been found guilty of distributing more than 25 TB of protected digital content.

From spring 2022 to mid-2023, the user using the alias "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded adult clips including over 100 actresses.

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

Per the Danish anti-piracy organization the Rights Alliance, his online community had more than 6,000 subscribers and users were encouraged to ask for clips of specific performers.

In 2023, campaigners filed the case to the police on behalf of the affected actors, filmmakers and production companies, which resulted in the subreddit being closed down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, one of the actresses whose nude scenes were shared in the community, told local media at the period she believed there was a difference between appearing naked in a movie and appearing on Reddit.

The actress stated the posts amounted to "abuse".

'A significant signal'

The man was arrested in fall 2024 and pleaded guilty to the allegations recently.

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

The ruling is viewed as unprecedented in the country for its application of the "ethical protections" clause of the national copyright law, which states an creator's work cannot be used in a way which violates their reputation.

Copyright law expert Dr Alina Trapova informed the media the legal matter was "unusual" for its emphasis on the harm to the integrity of an artist, rather than to them economically.

How the case could influence nations abroad is unclear.

But she said there may be "an increasing number of such cases" in the future with the growth of AI, where "the sanctity of an individual's work might be tempered with with greater ease".