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

According to a police document reviewed by BBC News, the unnamed man shared 347 video excerpts of nude scenes in a subreddit he managed, which were then watched 4.2 million times.

Danish police state he has been handed a 7-month deferred sentence for violating copyright laws.

Experts explain the defendant was prosecuted under a rarely-used provision in Denmark's intellectual property legislation, with the court finding that by removing the footage out of their original context, the accused had harmed the artists' "ethical entitlements".

He has additionally been found guilty of distributing more than 25 terabytes of protected data.

From March 2022 to mid-2023, the man using the alias "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded sexually explicit scenes including over 100 actresses.

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

Per the Denmark's copyright protection organization the Rights Alliance, his subreddit had more than 6,000 members and participants were encouraged to ask for excerpts of specific actors.

In last year, campaigners reported the incident to the police on behalf of the affected actors, filmmakers and production companies, which led to the subreddit being shut down.

One actress, among the performers whose nude scenes were circulated in the community, explained to local broadcasters at the period she felt there was a distinction between appearing naked in a film and being shown on Reddit.

The actress stated the posts constituted "exploitation".

'An important message'

The man was arrested in fall 2024 and pleaded culpable to the allegations recently.

In a comment after the verdict, the head of the Rights Alliance Maria Fredenslund said the decision sent an "significant" signal "indicating infringements of artists' rights has consequences".

The ruling is viewed as unique in Denmark for its application of the "moral rights" section of the national copyright law, which states an artist's creation cannot be used in a way which infringes upon their standing.

Copyright law expert Dr Alina Trapova told the media the legal matter was "unusual" for its emphasis on the damage to the dignity of an performer, rather than to them financially.

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

But she said there may be "more and more of these actions" in the future with the advancement of AI, where "the sanctity of an individual's work might be compromised much more easily".