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A Denmark-based citizen has been found guilty of uploading nude scenes from copyrighted movies and TV series on the social media platform Reddit.

Based on a police document obtained by BBC News, the unnamed individual posted 347 video excerpts of explicit content in a Reddit group he moderated, which were then watched 4.2 million times.

Danish authorities state he has been given a seven-month deferred sentence for copyright infringement.

Legal analysts say the man was prosecuted under a seldom-invoked clause in Denmark's copyright law, with the court ruling that by removing the scenes out of their intended setting, the accused had harmed the artists' "ethical entitlements".

He has additionally been found guilty of distributing more than 25 terabytes of copyrighted data.

From March 2022 to May 2023, the user using the alias "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted adult scenes including over 100 actresses.

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

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

In last year, campaigners reported the incident to the police on behalf of the impacted actors, filmmakers and production companies, which led to the forum being closed down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, one of the performers whose explicit scenes were circulated in the group, told local media at the period she felt there was a difference between being seen unclothed in a movie and being shown on Reddit.

The performer stated the uploads constituted "abuse".

'A significant message'

The defendant was detained in fall 2024 and admitted guilty to the charges last month.

In a statement after the verdict, TRA head Maria Fredenslund remarked the outcome sent an "significant" message "indicating infringements of artists' entitlements has consequences".

The ruling is viewed as unique in the country for its application of the "moral rights" section 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 "unusual" for its emphasis on the harm to the integrity of an performer, rather than to them economically.

How the ruling could influence other countries is uncertain.

But she added there may be "more and more of such cases" in the coming years with the advancement of artificial intelligence, where "the sanctity of one's work might be tempered with much more easily".