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

Based on a law enforcement report obtained by media outlets, the unnamed individual shared 347 clips of nude scenes in a subreddit he managed, which were then watched 4.2 million times.

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

Legal analysts say the defendant was charged under a rarely-used provision in Danish copyright law, with the court finding that by taking the footage out of their original context, the accused had damaged the performers' "moral rights".

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

From March 2022 to mid-2023, the user using the alias "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted adult clips featuring over 100 female performers.

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

Per the Denmark's copyright protection organization The Rights Alliance (TRA), his subreddit had more than 6,000 members and users were encouraged to request excerpts of particular performers.

In 2023, advocates filed the case to the authorities on behalf of the impacted artists, directors and producers, which led to the forum being closed down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, among the actresses whose nude content were shared in the community, told Danish media at the period she believed there was a difference between appearing naked in a film and being shown on Reddit.

The actress stated the posts constituted "abuse".

'An important signal'

The man was arrested in fall 2024 and pleaded culpable to the charges last month.

In a comment following the verdict, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader said the decision sent an "important" signal "that violations of creators' entitlements have consequences".

The ruling is viewed as unprecedented in the country for its application of the "moral rights" clause of the Danish Copyright Act, which states an artist's creation cannot be utilized in a way which infringes upon their standing.

Copyright law expert a legal scholar informed the media the legal matter was "rare" for its emphasis on the harm to the integrity of an performer, rather than to them economically.

How the case could influence other countries is unclear.

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