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A Danish citizen has been found guilty of sharing nude segments from protected films and TV series on the social media platform Reddit.

Based on a law enforcement report obtained by media outlets, the anonymous individual posted 347 clips of explicit content in a Reddit group he managed, which were then watched 4.2 million-plus times.

Danish police state he has been given a 7-month deferred jail term for violating copyright laws.

Legal analysts explain the defendant was prosecuted under a seldom-invoked provision in Danish copyright law, with the judge ruling that by taking the scenes out of their intended setting, the accused had damaged the performers' "moral rights".

He has also been convicted of distributing more than 25 TB of protected data.

From spring 2022 to May 2023, the user using the alias "KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted sexually explicit scenes featuring over 100 female performers.

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

According to the Danish anti-piracy group The Rights Alliance (TRA), his online community had more than 6,000 members and participants were encouraged to ask for excerpts of particular performers.

In last year, campaigners filed the case to the police on behalf of the affected actors, directors and producers, which resulted in the subreddit being shut down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, one of the performers whose nude scenes were circulated in the group, explained to Danish media at the period she believed there was a distinction between being seen naked in a movie and appearing on Reddit.

The performer stated the uploads constituted "exploitation".

'An important signal'

The man was detained in September 2024 and pleaded guilty to the charges recently.

In a statement after the ruling, the head of the Rights Alliance Maria Fredenslund said the outcome sent an "significant" signal "indicating violations of creators' rights have repercussions".

The ruling is viewed as unique in the country for its application of the "moral rights" clause of the national copyright law, which specifies an creator's creation cannot be utilized in a way which violates their standing.

Copyright law specialist Dr Alina Trapova informed BBC News the legal matter was "rare" for its focus 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 "more and more of these actions" in the future with the growth of artificial intelligence, where "the integrity of an individual's creative output might be tempered with much more easily".