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A Denmark-based citizen has been found guilty of uploading nude segments from copyrighted films and television shows on the social media platform Reddit.

Based on a law enforcement document reviewed by media outlets, the anonymous individual shared 347 video excerpts of nude content in a Reddit group he managed, which were then viewed 4.2 million times.

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

Experts say the defendant was prosecuted under a rarely-used clause in Danish copyright law, with the judge finding that by removing the footage out of their intended setting, the accused had damaged the artists' "ethical entitlements".

He has also been convicted of sharing more than 25 terabytes of copyrighted data.

From March 2022 to May 2023, the user using the alias "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded sexually explicit clips featuring over 100 actresses.

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

Per the Danish anti-piracy group The Rights Alliance (TRA), his online community had more than 6,000 subscribers and participants were encouraged to request clips of particular actors.

In last year, campaigners filed the incident to the police on behalf of the impacted actors, filmmakers and producers, which led to the subreddit being shut down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, among the performers whose explicit content were shared in the group, told Danish media at the time she believed there was a difference between being seen naked in a movie and being shown on Reddit.

The performer said the uploads amounted to "exploitation".

'A significant signal'

The man was detained in fall 2024 and admitted guilty to the allegations recently.

In a comment following the ruling, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader remarked the decision sent an "important" message "that violations of artists' entitlements has repercussions".

The ruling is viewed as unprecedented in Denmark for its use of the "moral rights" section of the Danish Copyright Act, which states an artist's work cannot be used in a manner which infringes upon their standing.

Intellectual property specialist a legal scholar informed the media the case was "rare" for its emphasis on the harm to the dignity of an artist, rather than to them economically.

The extent to which the ruling could influence nations abroad is uncertain.

But she said there may be "an increasing number of such cases" in the coming years with the advancement of AI, where "the integrity of an individual's creative output might be compromised much more easily".