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A Denmark-based citizen has been found guilty of uploading nude scenes from protected movies and TV series on the online platform Reddit.

According to a police document 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.

Danish police confirm he has been given a seven-month deferred sentence for copyright infringement.

Experts say the defendant was charged under a rarely-used provision in Denmark's copyright law, with the court ruling that by removing the scenes out of their original context, the man had harmed the performers' "moral rights".

He has also been convicted of sharing more than 25 TB of protected digital content.

From March 2022 to mid-2023, the man known as "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted adult clips featuring over 100 female performers.

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

According to the Danish copyright protection group the Rights Alliance, his online community had more than 6,000 subscribers and users were encouraged to request clips of particular actors.

In 2023, campaigners filed the case to the police on behalf of the affected actors, directors and production companies, which resulted in the forum being shut down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, among the performers whose explicit content were shared in the community, explained to local media at the time she believed there was a distinction between appearing naked in a movie and being shown on Reddit.

The performer stated the posts constituted "exploitation".

'A significant message'

The defendant was arrested in fall 2024 and admitted guilty to the allegations last month.

In a comment after the verdict, the head of the Rights Alliance Maria Fredenslund said the decision sent an "important" signal "that violations of creators' rights have consequences".

The ruling is considered unprecedented in the country for its use of the "moral rights" section of the Danish Copyright Act, which states an artist's creation cannot be utilized in a way which violates their reputation.

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

The extent to which the case could affect nations abroad is unclear.

But she said there may be "more and more of such cases" in the future with the advancement of artificial intelligence, where "the sanctity of one's work might be tempered with much more easily".