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A Danish man has been convicted of sharing sexually explicit scenes from protected movies and TV series on the online platform Reddit.

Based on a law enforcement report reviewed by BBC News, the unnamed man posted 347 video excerpts of nude content in a Reddit group he managed, which were then watched 4.2 million times.

The country's police confirm he has been given a 7-month suspended sentence for violating copyright laws.

Legal analysts explain the defendant was prosecuted under a seldom-invoked clause in Danish intellectual property legislation, with the court ruling that by removing the footage out of their original context, the accused had damaged the artists' "moral rights".

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

From March 2022 to mid-2023, the man known as "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded adult scenes featuring over 100 actresses.

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

According to the Danish copyright protection group the Rights Alliance, his subreddit had more than 6,000 members and users were encouraged to ask for excerpts of particular actors.

In last year, campaigners reported the incident to the police on behalf of the affected artists, filmmakers and producers, which led to the subreddit being closed down.

One actress, one of the performers whose nude content were shared in the group, told local media at the period she believed there was a difference between being seen unclothed in a movie and appearing on Reddit.

The actress said the posts amounted to "exploitation".

'A significant signal'

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

In a comment following the verdict, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader remarked the decision sent an "significant" signal "that infringements of creators' entitlements have repercussions".

The verdict is viewed as unique in Denmark for its application of the "moral rights" clause of the national copyright law, which states an creator's work cannot be utilized in a manner which infringes upon their standing.

Intellectual property expert Dr Alina Trapova told the media the case was "unusual" for its emphasis on the damage to the dignity of an artist, rather than to them financially.

How the ruling could influence nations abroad is unclear.

But she added there may be "an increasing number of such cases" in the future with the growth of AI, where "the integrity of an individual's work might be compromised much more easily".