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A Denmark-based man has been found guilty of uploading nude scenes from copyrighted movies and TV series on the online site Reddit.

Based on a police report obtained by media outlets, the anonymous individual shared 347 clips of nude scenes in a Reddit group he managed, which were then viewed 4.2 million-plus times.

The country's authorities confirm he has been given a 7-month suspended jail term for copyright infringement.

Legal analysts say the defendant was prosecuted 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 damaged the performers' "moral rights".

He has also been convicted of sharing more than 25 TB of copyrighted data.

From March 2022 to mid-2023, the man known as "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted adult scenes including over 100 female performers.

He shared them in the subreddit he was a moderator of.

Per 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 particular actors.

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

One actress, among the performers whose nude scenes were shared in the community, told local media at the time she felt there was a distinction between appearing naked in a movie and appearing on Reddit.

The performer said the uploads amounted to "exploitation".

'A significant signal'

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

In a comment after the ruling, TRA head Maria Fredenslund said the outcome sent an "significant" signal "indicating infringements of artists' rights have consequences".

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

Intellectual property expert Dr Alina Trapova informed the media the case was "unusual" for its emphasis on the harm to the integrity of an artist, rather than to them financially.

How the ruling could affect nations abroad is uncertain.

But she said there may be "more and more of such cases" in the future with the growth of AI, where "the integrity of an individual's work might be tempered with with greater ease".