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A Denmark-based man has been convicted of uploading nude scenes from copyrighted movies and television shows on the social media site Reddit.

According to a police report obtained by BBC News, the anonymous individual posted 347 video excerpts of explicit scenes in a Reddit group he managed, which were then watched 4.2 million times.

The country's authorities state he has been handed a 7-month suspended sentence for violating copyright laws.

Experts explain the man was charged under a seldom-invoked provision in Denmark's intellectual property legislation, with the judge finding that by taking the scenes out of their original context, the accused had damaged the performers' "ethical entitlements".

He has also been found guilty of distributing more than 25 TB of protected digital content.

From March 2022 to May 2023, the man using the alias "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted sexually explicit clips including over 100 actresses.

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

Per the Danish copyright protection group the Rights Alliance, his subreddit had more than 6,000 members and users were prompted to request excerpts of particular actors.

In last year, campaigners filed the incident to the police on behalf of the affected artists, directors and producers, which resulted in the subreddit being closed down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, one of the performers whose explicit scenes were circulated in the group, explained to local media at the time she believed there was a distinction between appearing unclothed in a movie and appearing on Reddit.

The actress stated the uploads amounted to "abuse".

'A significant signal'

The man was detained in September 2024 and pleaded culpable to the allegations last month.

In a statement after the ruling, the head of the Rights Alliance Maria Fredenslund remarked the decision sent an "significant" message "indicating infringements of artists' entitlements has consequences".

The verdict is viewed as unprecedented in Denmark for its application of the "ethical protections" section of the national copyright law, which states an artist's creation cannot be used in a manner which violates their standing.

Intellectual property specialist Dr Alina Trapova informed the media the case was "unusual" for its focus on the harm to the dignity of an artist, rather than to them economically.

The extent to which the ruling could affect other countries is unclear.

But she said there may be "more and more of such cases" in the coming years with the growth of artificial intelligence, where "the sanctity of an individual's work might be compromised with greater ease".