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A Danish man has been found guilty of uploading nude scenes from protected films and TV series on the online site Reddit.

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

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

Experts explain the defendant was charged under a seldom-invoked provision in Danish copyright law, with the judge finding that by removing the footage out of their intended setting, the man had damaged the artists' "moral rights".

He has also been convicted of sharing more than 25 terabytes of protected data.

From March 2022 to mid-2023, the man using the alias "KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted adult scenes including over 100 actresses.

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

Per the Danish anti-piracy organization The Rights Alliance (TRA), his online community had more than 6,000 members and participants were encouraged to request clips of particular performers.

In last year, campaigners reported the case to the police on behalf of the impacted actors, directors and production companies, which resulted in the forum being closed down.

One actress, among the actresses whose nude scenes were circulated in the community, told Danish broadcasters at the period she believed there was a distinction between appearing naked in a film and appearing on Reddit.

The actress stated the uploads amounted to "exploitation".

'An important message'

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

In a comment after the verdict, TRA head Maria Fredenslund remarked the decision sent an "significant" message "that violations of creators' rights have repercussions".

The verdict is considered unique in Denmark for its use of the "moral rights" section of the national copyright law, which states an creator's work cannot be used in a manner which violates their reputation.

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

How the case could influence nations abroad is unclear.

But she said there may be "an increasing number of these actions" in the coming years with the growth of artificial intelligence, where "the sanctity of an individual's creative output might be tempered with with greater ease".