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A Danish citizen has been found guilty of sharing sexually explicit scenes from protected movies and TV series on the social media platform Reddit.

Based on a law enforcement report obtained by media outlets, the anonymous man posted 347 clips of explicit content in a subreddit he moderated, which were then watched 4.2 million-plus times.

Danish authorities state he has been handed a 7-month suspended sentence for copyright infringement.

Legal analysts say the man was charged under a rarely-used clause in Danish copyright law, 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 convicted of sharing more than 25 TB of copyrighted data.

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

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

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

In 2023, advocates reported the incident to the police on behalf of the affected artists, filmmakers and production companies, which led to the subreddit being closed down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, among the actresses whose nude scenes were shared in the community, explained to local broadcasters at the time she felt there was a distinction between appearing naked in a film and appearing on Reddit.

The actress said the posts constituted "abuse".

'A significant message'

The defendant was detained in September 2024 and pleaded guilty to the charges last month.

In a statement after the ruling, TRA head Maria Fredenslund remarked the decision sent an "important" signal "indicating infringements of creators' rights has consequences".

The ruling is considered unprecedented in the country for its application of the "ethical protections" clause of the Danish Copyright Act, which specifies an creator's work cannot be used in a way which infringes upon their reputation.

Intellectual property expert a legal scholar told BBC News the case was "rare" for its focus on the damage to the dignity of an performer, rather than to them economically.

How the case could affect other countries is unclear.

But she added there may be "an increasing number of such cases" in the coming years with the advancement of AI, where "the sanctity of one's work might be tempered with much more easily".