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A Denmark-based man has been found guilty of sharing sexually explicit segments from protected films and television shows on the social media platform Reddit.

Based on a police document reviewed by BBC News, the anonymous man shared 347 clips of explicit scenes in a subreddit he managed, which were then watched 4.2 million-plus times.

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

Experts say the man was prosecuted under a rarely-used clause in Danish copyright law, with the court ruling that by removing the footage out of their intended setting, the man had harmed the artists' "moral rights".

He has also been convicted of distributing more than 25 terabytes of protected digital content.

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

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

According to the Denmark's anti-piracy organization The Rights Alliance (TRA), his subreddit had more than 6,000 subscribers and users were prompted to ask for clips of specific actors.

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

Andrea Vagn Jensen, one of the actresses whose explicit scenes were circulated in the community, told Danish broadcasters at the time she believed there was a difference between being seen naked in a film and being shown on Reddit.

The performer stated the uploads amounted to "abuse".

'An important signal'

The man was detained in fall 2024 and admitted culpable to the charges last month.

In a statement following the verdict, the head of the Rights Alliance Maria Fredenslund remarked the decision sent an "important" message "indicating violations of artists' rights has consequences".

The ruling is viewed as unprecedented in the country for its application of the "ethical protections" clause of the national copyright law, which states an artist's creation cannot be utilized in a manner which infringes upon their standing.

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

How the case could influence other countries is uncertain.

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