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

According to a police document obtained by media outlets, the unnamed individual shared 347 clips of explicit scenes in a Reddit group he managed, which were then watched 4.2 million times.

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

Experts explain the defendant was charged under a seldom-invoked clause in Danish intellectual property legislation, with the court finding that by taking the footage out of their intended setting, the accused had harmed the performers' "moral rights".

He has additionally been convicted of sharing more than 25 TB of copyrighted data.

From March 2022 to mid-2023, the user known as "KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted sexually explicit scenes featuring over 100 actresses.

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

According to the Danish anti-piracy group the Rights Alliance, his online community had more than 6,000 members and participants were encouraged to request clips of specific actors.

In 2023, campaigners filed the incident to the police on behalf of the affected artists, filmmakers and production companies, which led to the subreddit being shut down.

One actress, among the actresses whose nude scenes were circulated in the group, told Danish broadcasters at the time she felt there was a distinction between being seen naked in a film and being shown on Reddit.

The performer stated the posts constituted "abuse".

'An important message'

The defendant was arrested in September 2024 and admitted culpable to the charges recently.

In a comment after the verdict, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader remarked the decision sent an "significant" message "that violations of artists' entitlements have consequences".

The ruling is viewed as unique in Denmark for its application of the "moral rights" clause of the Danish Copyright Act, which specifies an artist's work cannot be utilized in a manner which violates their standing.

Copyright law specialist a legal scholar told the media the legal matter was "rare" for its emphasis on the harm to the dignity of an artist, rather than to them financially.

The extent to which the ruling could affect other countries is unclear.

But she added there may be "more and more of these actions" in the coming years with the advancement of AI, where "the integrity of an individual's work might be compromised much more easily".