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A Danish man has been convicted of uploading nude segments from copyrighted movies and TV series on the online site Reddit.

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

Danish authorities confirm he has been handed a 7-month deferred sentence for copyright infringement.

Legal analysts explain the defendant was prosecuted under a seldom-invoked clause in Danish intellectual property legislation, with the court ruling that by removing the scenes out of their intended setting, the man had harmed the performers' "ethical entitlements".

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

From spring 2022 to mid-2023, the user known as "KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted sexually explicit scenes featuring over 100 actresses.

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

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

In last year, campaigners filed the incident to the police on behalf of the impacted artists, filmmakers and producers, which led to the forum being shut down.

One actress, among the performers whose nude content were circulated in the group, explained to Danish media at the time she felt there was a difference between being seen naked in a movie and appearing on Reddit.

The performer stated the posts constituted "exploitation".

'An important signal'

The defendant was detained in September 2024 and pleaded culpable to the allegations recently.

In a comment following the ruling, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader said the outcome sent an "significant" signal "that infringements of artists' entitlements have repercussions".

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

Intellectual property specialist a legal scholar informed the media the legal matter was "rare" for its focus on the damage to the dignity of an performer, rather than to them financially.

The extent to which the ruling could influence other countries 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 integrity of one's creative output might be compromised with greater ease".