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A Denmark-based man has been convicted of uploading nude segments from copyrighted movies and TV series on the online platform Reddit.

Based on a police document reviewed by BBC News, the anonymous individual posted 347 clips of explicit content in a subreddit he managed, which were then viewed 4.2 million times.

The country's police state he has been handed a seven-month deferred jail term for violating copyright laws.

Legal analysts say the man was charged under a rarely-used provision in Danish intellectual property legislation, with the court finding that by taking the footage out of their intended setting, the man had harmed the performers' "ethical entitlements".

He has also been convicted of sharing more than 25 terabytes of protected data.

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

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

According to the Danish copyright protection group The Rights Alliance (TRA), his online community had more than 6,000 subscribers and participants were encouraged to ask for excerpts of particular performers.

In 2023, campaigners filed the case to the authorities on behalf of the affected artists, filmmakers and production companies, which resulted in the subreddit being shut down.

One actress, among the performers whose nude scenes were shared in the group, explained to Danish media at the time she believed there was a distinction between appearing unclothed in a movie and being shown on Reddit.

The performer stated the posts constituted "abuse".

'A significant signal'

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

In a statement following the verdict, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader said the outcome sent an "significant" signal "indicating violations of artists' rights has consequences".

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

Intellectual property expert Dr Alina Trapova told BBC News the legal matter was "unusual" for its emphasis on the damage to the dignity of an performer, rather than to them economically.

How the case could influence nations abroad is uncertain.

But she added there may be "an increasing number of such cases" in the coming years with the advancement of AI, where "the integrity of one's creative output might be tempered with much more easily".