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A Danish man has been convicted of uploading nude scenes from copyrighted movies and TV series on the online site Reddit.

Based on a police report reviewed by media outlets, the unnamed individual shared 347 video excerpts of explicit content in a subreddit he managed, which were then viewed 4.2 million times.

The country's authorities state he has been handed a 7-month deferred jail term for copyright infringement.

Experts say the man was charged under a rarely-used provision in Denmark's intellectual property legislation, with the judge finding that by taking the footage out of their intended setting, the accused had damaged the performers' "moral rights".

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

From March 2022 to May 2023, the man known as "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded sexually explicit scenes featuring over 100 female performers.

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

According to the Denmark's copyright protection organization the Rights Alliance, his online community had more than 6,000 subscribers and participants were encouraged to request excerpts of particular performers.

In last year, campaigners reported the case to the police on behalf of the affected artists, directors and production companies, which resulted in the forum being shut down.

One actress, among the performers whose nude scenes were circulated in the community, explained to Danish broadcasters at the period she felt there was a difference between appearing unclothed in a movie and being shown on Reddit.

The performer stated the posts amounted to "exploitation".

'An important message'

The man was detained in September 2024 and pleaded culpable to the allegations last month.

In a comment following the ruling, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader said the outcome sent an "significant" message "that violations of creators' entitlements have repercussions".

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

Copyright law expert a legal scholar informed BBC News the legal matter was "unusual" for its emphasis on the damage to the integrity of an performer, rather than to them financially.

The extent to which the case could affect nations abroad is uncertain.

But she added there may be "an increasing number of such cases" in the coming years with the growth of artificial intelligence, where "the integrity of one's work might be tempered with with greater ease".