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A Danish man has been convicted of sharing nude segments from protected movies and television shows on the online platform Reddit.

According to a law enforcement document reviewed by BBC News, the unnamed individual posted 347 clips of explicit scenes in a Reddit group he moderated, which were then viewed 4.2 million times.

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

Experts say the man was charged under a seldom-invoked provision in Danish copyright law, with the judge ruling that by taking the footage out of their original context, the accused had harmed the performers' "moral rights".

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

From March 2022 to May 2023, the man using the alias "KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded sexually explicit scenes including over 100 female performers.

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

According to the Denmark's anti-piracy group the Rights Alliance, his online community had more than 6,000 subscribers and participants were encouraged to ask for clips of specific actors.

In 2023, advocates reported the case to the authorities on behalf of the affected artists, directors and producers, which resulted in the forum being closed down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, among the performers whose nude scenes were circulated in the community, told local broadcasters at the period she felt there was a distinction between being seen unclothed in a movie and appearing on Reddit.

The performer stated the posts constituted "abuse".

'An important signal'

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

In a comment following the verdict, TRA head Maria Fredenslund said the decision sent an "significant" message "that violations of artists' entitlements has consequences".

The ruling is viewed as unprecedented in Denmark for its application of the "ethical protections" clause of the Danish Copyright Act, which states an artist's creation cannot be used in a way which violates their reputation.

Copyright law specialist a legal scholar informed BBC News the legal matter was "rare" for its emphasis on the damage to the dignity of an performer, 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 these actions" in the coming years with the advancement of AI, where "the integrity of an individual's work might be tempered with with greater ease".