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A Danish man has been convicted of sharing sexually explicit scenes from copyrighted films and television shows on the social media platform Reddit.

According to a law enforcement report reviewed by BBC News, the anonymous individual posted 347 video excerpts of nude content in a Reddit group he moderated, which were then viewed 4.2 million times.

Danish authorities confirm he has been given a seven-month suspended sentence for copyright infringement.

Experts say the man was prosecuted under a seldom-invoked provision in Denmark's copyright law, with the court ruling that by removing the scenes out of their intended setting, the accused had harmed the performers' "ethical entitlements".

He has also been convicted of sharing more than 25 TB of protected data.

From spring 2022 to May 2023, the user using the alias "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted sexually explicit clips including over 100 female performers.

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

Per the Danish anti-piracy organization The Rights Alliance (TRA), his subreddit had more than 6,000 members and users were prompted to ask for excerpts of specific performers.

In 2023, campaigners filed the case to the police on behalf of the impacted actors, filmmakers and production companies, which led to the subreddit being closed down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, one of the performers whose explicit scenes were circulated in the community, told local broadcasters at the period she felt there was a distinction between being seen unclothed in a film and being shown on Reddit.

The actress said the uploads amounted to "exploitation".

'A significant message'

The defendant was detained in fall 2024 and pleaded culpable to the charges recently.

In a comment after the ruling, TRA head the organization's leader said the decision sent an "important" signal "indicating infringements of artists' entitlements have repercussions".

The verdict is viewed as unique in the country for its application of the "ethical protections" section of the Danish Copyright Act, which states an artist's creation cannot be used in a manner which infringes upon their reputation.

Copyright law expert a legal scholar informed the media the legal matter was "unusual" for its focus on the damage to the dignity of an artist, rather than to them financially.

How the case could influence other countries is unclear.

But she added there may be "an increasing number of such cases" in the future with the growth of artificial intelligence, where "the sanctity of one's creative output might be tempered with much more easily".