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

According to a law enforcement report reviewed by media outlets, the anonymous man shared 347 clips of explicit content in a Reddit group he moderated, which were then watched 4.2 million-plus times.

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

Experts say the man was prosecuted under a seldom-invoked clause in Danish intellectual property legislation, with the judge ruling that by taking the footage out of their original context, the man had damaged the performers' "ethical entitlements".

He has additionally been convicted of distributing more than 25 TB of copyrighted digital content.

From spring 2022 to mid-2023, the man using the alias "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded sexually explicit scenes including over 100 actresses.

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

Per the Denmark's anti-piracy group The Rights Alliance (TRA), his subreddit had more than 6,000 members and users were prompted to ask for clips of specific actors.

In 2023, advocates filed the incident to the police on behalf of the affected artists, filmmakers and production companies, which resulted in the forum being shut down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, among the actresses whose nude content were shared in the community, told local broadcasters at the time she felt there was a distinction between appearing naked in a movie and appearing on Reddit.

The performer stated the uploads amounted to "exploitation".

'A significant signal'

The man was detained in September 2024 and admitted culpable to the charges last month.

In a statement after the verdict, the head of the Rights Alliance Maria Fredenslund said the outcome sent an "important" signal "indicating infringements of artists' rights have repercussions".

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

Copyright law specialist a legal scholar told BBC News the legal matter was "rare" for its emphasis on the damage to the dignity of an artist, rather than to them financially.

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

But she added there may be "an increasing number of these actions" in the future with the advancement of artificial intelligence, where "the integrity of an individual's work might be compromised with greater ease".