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

Based on a law enforcement document reviewed by media outlets, the anonymous man posted 347 clips of explicit scenes in a subreddit he moderated, which were then viewed 4.2 million-plus times.

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

Experts say the defendant was charged under a seldom-invoked provision in Denmark's intellectual property legislation, with the court ruling that by removing the scenes out of their original context, the man had harmed the artists' "moral rights".

He has also been found guilty of sharing more than 25 TB of copyrighted data.

From spring 2022 to May 2023, the man known as "KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted sexually explicit clips featuring over 100 female performers.

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

According to the Denmark's anti-piracy group The Rights Alliance (TRA), his online community had more than 6,000 subscribers and users were encouraged to ask for excerpts of specific performers.

In last year, advocates filed the case to the police on behalf of the impacted actors, filmmakers and production companies, which resulted in the forum being closed down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, one of the performers whose explicit scenes were shared in the community, told Danish media at the period she felt there was a difference between appearing unclothed in a film and being shown on Reddit.

The performer said the uploads amounted to "exploitation".

'An important signal'

The defendant was arrested in fall 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 artists' rights has repercussions".

The verdict is considered unique in Denmark for its application of the "ethical protections" clause of the national copyright law, which states an artist's creation cannot be utilized in a manner which infringes upon their standing.

Intellectual property expert Dr Alina Trapova informed BBC News the case was "rare" for its focus on the harm to the dignity of an performer, rather than to them economically.

How the case could affect nations abroad is uncertain.

But she said there may be "an increasing number of these actions" in the future with the advancement of artificial intelligence, where "the sanctity of an individual's creative output might be compromised with greater ease".