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A Danish citizen has been convicted of sharing nude scenes from copyrighted movies and TV series on the social media site Reddit.

Based on a law enforcement report obtained by media outlets, the unnamed man posted 347 clips of nude scenes in a subreddit he moderated, which were then watched 4.2 million times.

The country's authorities state he has been given a 7-month deferred sentence for copyright infringement.

Experts say the man was prosecuted under a seldom-invoked clause in Denmark's intellectual property legislation, with the court finding that by taking the footage out of their original context, the accused had damaged the artists' "ethical entitlements".

He has also been convicted of sharing 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 featuring over 100 female performers.

He shared them in the subreddit he was a administrator of.

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

In 2023, campaigners reported the case to the authorities on behalf of the impacted actors, filmmakers and production companies, which resulted in the forum being shut down.

One actress, among the performers whose explicit scenes were circulated in the group, told local broadcasters at the time she believed there was a distinction between being seen naked in a movie and being shown on Reddit.

The performer said the uploads amounted to "abuse".

'A significant signal'

The defendant was arrested in September 2024 and pleaded culpable to the charges recently.

In a statement after the verdict, TRA head the organization's leader said the outcome sent an "important" message "that violations of creators' entitlements has repercussions".

The ruling is viewed as unprecedented in Denmark for its application of the "moral rights" clause of the national copyright law, which specifies an creator's work cannot be used in a way 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 dignity of an performer, rather than to them economically.

How the case could affect nations abroad is unclear.

But she added there may be "an increasing number of such cases" in the coming years with the advancement of AI, where "the sanctity of one's creative output might be tempered with with greater ease".