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A Denmark-based man has been convicted of sharing nude segments from protected films and television shows on the social media site Reddit.

Based on a law enforcement document reviewed by media outlets, the anonymous individual posted 347 video excerpts of nude scenes in a subreddit he moderated, which were then watched 4.2 million times.

Danish authorities confirm he has been handed a 7-month suspended sentence for copyright infringement.

Experts say the man was charged under a rarely-used provision in Danish copyright law, with the court ruling that by taking the scenes out of their intended setting, the man had harmed the artists' "ethical entitlements".

He has additionally been found guilty of distributing more than 25 terabytes of protected data.

From spring 2022 to mid-2023, the user using the alias "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted adult clips including over 100 female performers.

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

According to the Danish copyright protection group The Rights Alliance (TRA), his subreddit had more than 6,000 members and participants were encouraged to request excerpts of specific actors.

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

One actress, one of the performers whose nude scenes were shared in the group, explained to local media at the period she felt there was a difference between appearing naked in a film and being shown on Reddit.

The performer stated the uploads constituted "exploitation".

'An important message'

The man was detained in September 2024 and admitted culpable to the allegations recently.

In a statement following the ruling, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader remarked the decision sent an "important" message "indicating infringements of creators' entitlements have consequences".

The ruling is considered unprecedented in the country for its use of the "moral rights" section of the national copyright law, which specifies an artist's work cannot be used in a manner which violates their standing.

Intellectual property specialist Dr Alina Trapova told the media the case was "rare" for its focus on the harm to the dignity of an performer, rather than to them economically.

How the case could influence other countries is uncertain.

But she said there may be "more and more of such cases" in the coming years with the advancement of AI, where "the sanctity of one's creative output might be compromised with greater ease".