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A Danish man has been convicted of uploading nude segments from protected movies and TV series on the online platform Reddit.

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

The country's police state he has been handed a seven-month deferred jail term for copyright infringement.

Experts say the man was prosecuted under a seldom-invoked provision in Denmark's intellectual property legislation, with the court ruling that by removing the scenes out of their intended setting, the accused had damaged the performers' "ethical entitlements".

He has also been convicted of distributing more than 25 terabytes of protected data.

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

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

According to the Denmark's anti-piracy group the Rights Alliance, his subreddit had more than 6,000 subscribers and participants were prompted to ask for clips of particular performers.

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

Andrea Vagn Jensen, among the performers whose nude content were shared in the group, explained to Danish media at the period she believed there was a distinction between being seen unclothed in a film and appearing on Reddit.

The performer stated the posts constituted "abuse".

'A significant signal'

The man was arrested in fall 2024 and pleaded guilty to the charges recently.

In a comment following the verdict, TRA head Maria Fredenslund said the outcome sent an "significant" message "indicating infringements of artists' rights has consequences".

The verdict is viewed as unique in the country for its application of the "moral rights" clause of the national copyright law, which states an artist's work cannot be utilized in a manner which infringes upon their standing.

Intellectual property expert a legal scholar informed BBC News the legal matter was "unusual" 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 nations abroad is uncertain.

But she added there may be "more and more of such cases" in the future with the advancement of artificial intelligence, where "the sanctity of an individual's creative output might be tempered with much more easily".