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

According to a police report reviewed by BBC News, the anonymous man posted 347 video excerpts of nude content 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 jail term for copyright infringement.

Experts explain the defendant was charged under a rarely-used clause in Denmark's intellectual property legislation, with the judge ruling that by removing the scenes out of their intended setting, the man had damaged the performers' "ethical entitlements".

He has additionally been found guilty of distributing more than 25 TB of protected digital content.

From March 2022 to May 2023, the user using the alias "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted adult clips featuring over 100 female performers.

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

According to the Denmark's copyright protection organization The Rights Alliance (TRA), his subreddit had more than 6,000 subscribers and participants were encouraged to ask for clips of particular actors.

In last year, campaigners reported the incident to the authorities on behalf of the impacted actors, directors and producers, which resulted in the forum being shut down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, among the actresses whose explicit scenes were shared in the group, explained to Danish broadcasters at the period she felt there was a distinction between being seen unclothed in a movie and appearing on Reddit.

The actress stated the uploads constituted "exploitation".

'An important message'

The defendant was detained in fall 2024 and admitted culpable to the charges last month.

In a statement following the verdict, TRA head Maria Fredenslund remarked the outcome sent an "significant" message "that infringements of artists' entitlements has consequences".

The ruling is considered unprecedented in the country for its use of the "ethical protections" clause of the national copyright law, which states an artist's work cannot be used in a manner which infringes upon their standing.

Intellectual property expert a legal scholar told BBC News the case was "unusual" for its focus on the damage to the dignity of an performer, rather than to them financially.

The extent to which the case could influence other countries is unclear.

But she added there may be "an increasing number of these actions" in the future with the growth of AI, where "the sanctity of one's work might be compromised with greater ease".