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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.

Based on a law enforcement report obtained by BBC News, the unnamed individual posted 347 clips of explicit scenes in a subreddit he moderated, which were then viewed 4.2 million-plus times.

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

Legal analysts say the defendant was prosecuted under a seldom-invoked clause in Danish copyright law, with the court finding 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 terabytes of copyrighted digital content.

From spring 2022 to May 2023, the user known as "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded sexually explicit scenes including over 100 female performers.

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

Per the Danish anti-piracy organization the Rights Alliance, his online community had more than 6,000 subscribers and participants were prompted to ask for excerpts of specific performers.

In last year, campaigners filed the incident to the authorities on behalf of the impacted actors, filmmakers and production companies, which led to the subreddit being shut down.

One actress, among the performers whose explicit scenes were circulated in the community, explained to local media at the period she believed there was a distinction between appearing naked in a movie and appearing on Reddit.

The performer stated the uploads constituted "exploitation".

'A significant signal'

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

In a comment after the ruling, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader said the outcome sent an "significant" message "indicating violations of artists' entitlements has consequences".

The verdict is considered unique in the country for its application of the "ethical protections" clause of the Danish Copyright Act, which states an creator's creation cannot be used in a manner which violates their reputation.

Copyright law expert a legal scholar informed the media the legal matter was "unusual" for its emphasis on the harm to the dignity of an artist, rather than to them financially.

How the case could affect nations abroad is unclear.

But she said there may be "an increasing number of such cases" in the coming years with the advancement of artificial intelligence, where "the integrity of an individual's work might be compromised much more easily".