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A Denmark-based citizen has been found guilty of uploading nude segments from copyrighted movies and TV series on the social media platform Reddit.

Based on a police document reviewed by media outlets, the unnamed individual posted 347 clips of nude content in a subreddit he managed, which were then viewed 4.2 million times.

The country's authorities state he has been given a seven-month deferred jail term for copyright infringement.

Experts say the defendant was charged under a rarely-used provision in Denmark's intellectual property legislation, with the judge finding that by removing the scenes out of their intended setting, the accused had damaged the artists' "ethical entitlements".

He has also been found guilty of sharing more than 25 TB of copyrighted digital content.

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

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

According to the Denmark's anti-piracy group the Rights Alliance, his subreddit had more than 6,000 subscribers and participants were prompted to ask for excerpts of specific performers.

In last year, campaigners reported the case to the authorities on behalf of the affected artists, directors and producers, which resulted in the forum being closed down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, one of the performers whose nude content were shared in the community, told local broadcasters at the period she believed there was a difference between appearing naked in a film and being shown on Reddit.

The performer said the uploads constituted "exploitation".

'A significant signal'

The defendant was arrested in September 2024 and pleaded culpable to the allegations last month.

In a comment following the ruling, the head of the Rights Alliance Maria Fredenslund remarked the outcome sent an "significant" message "that violations of artists' rights has repercussions".

The verdict is considered unique in Denmark for its application of the "ethical protections" clause of the Danish Copyright Act, which states an creator's work cannot be used in a manner which violates their reputation.

Intellectual property specialist Dr Alina Trapova informed BBC News the case was "rare" for its emphasis on the damage to the integrity of an performer, rather than to them financially.

How the ruling could influence nations abroad is uncertain.

But she added there may be "an increasing number of such cases" in the coming years with the advancement of artificial intelligence, where "the integrity of an individual's work might be tempered with much more easily".