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A Denmark-based citizen has been convicted of sharing nude segments from copyrighted films and TV series on the social media platform Reddit.

According to a law enforcement report reviewed by media outlets, the unnamed man shared 347 video excerpts of explicit content in a subreddit he moderated, which were then watched 4.2 million times.

Danish police state he has been given a 7-month deferred jail term for violating copyright laws.

Experts explain the defendant was charged under a seldom-invoked clause in Danish copyright law, with the court finding that by removing the scenes out of their intended setting, the man had damaged the artists' "moral rights".

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

From spring 2022 to May 2023, the user known as "KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted sexually explicit clips including over 100 female performers.

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

Per the Danish copyright protection group The Rights Alliance (TRA), his online community had more than 6,000 subscribers and participants were encouraged to request excerpts of specific performers.

In last year, campaigners filed the case to the police on behalf of the affected artists, filmmakers and producers, which led to the forum being closed down.

One actress, one of the actresses whose nude scenes were shared in the community, told local broadcasters at the time she believed there was a distinction between being seen naked in a movie and being shown on Reddit.

The performer said the uploads amounted to "exploitation".

'An important signal'

The man was arrested in September 2024 and pleaded guilty to the allegations recently.

In a comment following the verdict, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader said the outcome sent an "important" signal "indicating violations of artists' rights has repercussions".

The ruling is considered 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 manner which infringes upon their reputation.

Intellectual property expert a legal scholar informed the media the legal matter was "rare" for its focus on the harm to the dignity of an performer, rather than to them economically.

How the case could affect nations abroad is uncertain.

But she said there may be "more and more of these actions" in the future with the growth of AI, where "the integrity of one's creative output might be compromised with greater ease".