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A Denmark-based citizen has been found guilty of uploading sexually explicit scenes from protected movies and TV series on the social media site Reddit.

According to a police report reviewed by BBC News, the anonymous individual shared 347 clips of nude scenes in a Reddit group he managed, which were then viewed 4.2 million times.

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

Legal analysts say the man was charged under a rarely-used clause in Denmark's intellectual property legislation, with the court finding that by taking the scenes out of their original context, the man had harmed the artists' "moral rights".

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

From March 2022 to May 2023, the man using the alias "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded adult clips featuring over 100 female performers.

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

According to the Danish anti-piracy group the Rights Alliance, his online community had more than 6,000 members and participants were encouraged to request excerpts of specific actors.

In last year, campaigners reported the case to the authorities on behalf of the affected artists, directors and producers, which led to the subreddit being shut down.

One actress, one of the actresses whose nude scenes were shared in the group, explained to Danish broadcasters at the period she felt there was a distinction between being seen naked in a film and appearing on Reddit.

The actress stated the uploads constituted "abuse".

'A significant signal'

The man was arrested in September 2024 and admitted culpable to the allegations last month.

In a comment following the ruling, the head of the Rights Alliance Maria Fredenslund said the decision sent an "important" message "that violations of artists' entitlements has repercussions".

The verdict is considered unprecedented in Denmark for its use of the "ethical protections" clause of the Danish Copyright Act, which specifies an creator's work cannot be utilized in a way which infringes upon their standing.

Copyright law expert a legal scholar told the media the legal matter was "rare" for its emphasis on the harm to the integrity of an performer, rather than to them financially.

How the case could influence nations abroad is unclear.

But she said there may be "more and more of these actions" in the coming years with the growth of artificial intelligence, where "the sanctity of one's work might be tempered with much more easily".