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A Danish citizen has been convicted of sharing nude segments from copyrighted movies and TV series on the social media platform Reddit.

Based on a law enforcement document reviewed by BBC News, the anonymous man posted 347 video excerpts of explicit scenes in a subreddit he moderated, which were then viewed 4.2 million times.

The country's authorities state he has been given a seven-month suspended sentence for copyright infringement.

Experts explain the defendant was prosecuted under a rarely-used provision in Danish intellectual property legislation, with the judge finding that by removing the scenes out of their intended setting, the accused had harmed the performers' "ethical entitlements".

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

From March 2022 to May 2023, the user known as "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded sexually explicit scenes including over 100 female performers.

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

Per the Denmark's copyright protection organization The Rights Alliance (TRA), his online community had more than 6,000 subscribers and participants were encouraged to request excerpts of specific actors.

In 2023, advocates filed the case to the authorities on behalf of the impacted artists, directors and production companies, which resulted in the forum being closed down.

One actress, one of the actresses whose explicit scenes were shared in the community, told Danish broadcasters at the time she believed there was a distinction between appearing naked in a film and appearing on Reddit.

The actress stated the posts constituted "exploitation".

'A significant signal'

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

In a comment following the verdict, TRA head the organization's leader said the outcome sent an "significant" signal "that violations of creators' rights have repercussions".

The verdict is considered unique in Denmark for its use of the "moral rights" clause of the Danish Copyright Act, which specifies an artist's creation cannot be utilized in a manner which infringes upon their reputation.

Copyright law expert a legal scholar told BBC News the legal matter was "rare" for its focus on the damage to the integrity of an performer, rather than to them financially.

How the ruling could affect other countries is unclear.

But she added there may be "more and more of such cases" in the future with the growth of AI, where "the sanctity of an individual's work might be compromised much more easily".