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A Danish citizen has been found guilty of uploading nude scenes from protected movies and television shows on the social media site Reddit.

Based on a police report reviewed by BBC News, the anonymous man posted 347 video excerpts of nude content in a Reddit group he moderated, which were then viewed 4.2 million times.

The country's police state he has been given a seven-month deferred sentence for copyright infringement.

Legal analysts explain the defendant was charged under a rarely-used clause in Denmark's copyright law, with the court finding that by removing the scenes out of their original context, the man had damaged the performers' "moral rights".

He has additionally been convicted of sharing more than 25 terabytes of protected digital content.

From spring 2022 to May 2023, the man using the alias "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded adult clips featuring over 100 actresses.

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

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

In 2023, advocates reported the incident to the police on behalf of the impacted actors, directors and producers, which led to the subreddit being closed down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, one of the actresses whose nude content were circulated in the group, explained to Danish broadcasters at the period she felt there was a difference between being seen unclothed in a film and being shown on Reddit.

The actress said the uploads amounted to "abuse".

'An important signal'

The defendant was arrested in fall 2024 and pleaded guilty to the charges last month.

In a statement following the verdict, TRA head Maria Fredenslund remarked the outcome sent an "important" message "indicating infringements of artists' rights has repercussions".

The verdict is viewed as unprecedented in the country for its use of the "ethical protections" section of the national copyright law, which states an artist's creation cannot be utilized in a way which violates their standing.

Copyright law specialist Dr Alina Trapova informed BBC News the case was "unusual" for its emphasis on the harm to the dignity of an performer, rather than to them economically.

How the case could influence nations abroad is uncertain.

But she added there may be "more and more of these actions" in the coming years with the growth of AI, where "the sanctity of one's work might be tempered with with greater ease".