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A Danish citizen has been found guilty of sharing sexually explicit segments from copyrighted films and television shows on the social media site Reddit.

Based on a law enforcement report reviewed by BBC News, the anonymous individual shared 347 video excerpts of nude content in a Reddit group he managed, which were then watched 4.2 million-plus times.

The country's police confirm he has been handed a 7-month deferred jail term for violating copyright laws.

Experts say the defendant was charged under a seldom-invoked provision in Danish intellectual property legislation, with the court finding that by taking the scenes out of their original context, the man had harmed the performers' "ethical entitlements".

He has additionally been found guilty of distributing more than 25 TB of copyrighted data.

From March 2022 to mid-2023, the man using the alias "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted adult scenes featuring over 100 female performers.

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

Per the Denmark's copyright protection group the Rights Alliance, his subreddit had more than 6,000 members and users were prompted to ask for clips of specific actors.

In 2023, campaigners reported the case to the authorities on behalf of the impacted artists, filmmakers and production companies, which resulted in the forum being shut down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, among the actresses whose explicit content were shared in the group, told local media at the time she felt there was a difference between being seen unclothed in a movie and being shown on Reddit.

The performer said the posts constituted "abuse".

'A significant signal'

The man was detained in September 2024 and pleaded guilty 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" signal "that violations of artists' rights have repercussions".

The ruling is considered unique in Denmark for its use of the "ethical protections" section of the national copyright law, which states an artist's work cannot be used in a manner which infringes upon their standing.

Intellectual property specialist a legal scholar told the media the case was "rare" for its emphasis on the harm to the integrity of an performer, rather than to them economically.

The extent to which the case could affect other countries is uncertain.

But she added there may be "an increasing number of such cases" in the future with the advancement of AI, where "the sanctity of an individual's work might be tempered with with greater ease".