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A Denmark-based man has been convicted of uploading sexually explicit segments from protected films and TV series on the social media platform Reddit.

According to a police document obtained by BBC News, the unnamed individual posted 347 video excerpts of nude scenes in a subreddit he moderated, which were then viewed 4.2 million-plus times.

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

Legal analysts explain the man was prosecuted under a seldom-invoked clause in Denmark's copyright law, with the court finding that by taking the footage out of their intended setting, the accused had harmed the performers' "moral rights".

He has also been convicted of distributing more than 25 terabytes of copyrighted data.

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

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

Per the Danish copyright protection organization The Rights Alliance (TRA), his subreddit had more than 6,000 members and participants were prompted to ask for clips of specific performers.

In 2023, advocates reported the case to the police on behalf of the affected actors, directors and production companies, which resulted in the subreddit being shut down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, among the actresses whose explicit scenes were circulated in the community, told local media at the period she believed there was a difference between appearing naked in a movie and being shown on Reddit.

The actress stated the posts constituted "abuse".

'A significant message'

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

In a comment after the verdict, the head of the Rights Alliance Maria Fredenslund said the decision sent an "important" message "indicating violations of artists' rights have repercussions".

The verdict is viewed as unique in Denmark for its use of the "moral rights" clause of the national copyright law, which states an artist's work cannot be used in a way which violates their standing.

Intellectual property specialist Dr Alina Trapova told BBC News the legal matter was "rare" for its emphasis on the damage to the integrity of an artist, rather than to them economically.

The extent to which the case could affect other countries is uncertain.

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 one's creative output might be compromised much more easily".