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

According to a law enforcement document obtained by media outlets, the unnamed man shared 347 clips of explicit content in a subreddit he moderated, which were then watched 4.2 million times.

Danish police state he has been handed a 7-month deferred jail term for violating copyright laws.

Experts say the man was charged under a seldom-invoked clause in Denmark's intellectual property legislation, with the court ruling that by removing the footage out of their intended setting, the accused had harmed the performers' "moral rights".

He has also been convicted of distributing more than 25 terabytes of copyrighted data.

From spring 2022 to mid-2023, the man known as "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted sexually explicit scenes including over 100 female performers.

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

Per the Denmark's anti-piracy organization the Rights Alliance, his online community had more than 6,000 members and participants were prompted to ask for clips of specific performers.

In last year, campaigners reported the case to the authorities on behalf of the affected artists, filmmakers and production companies, which led to the forum being shut down.

One actress, one of the actresses whose explicit scenes were circulated in the group, explained to Danish media at the time she felt there was a distinction between being seen naked in a movie and appearing on Reddit.

The actress said the uploads constituted "exploitation".

'An important signal'

The defendant was detained in September 2024 and pleaded culpable to the allegations recently.

In a comment following the verdict, TRA head Maria Fredenslund said the outcome sent an "important" signal "that infringements of artists' rights has consequences".

The verdict is considered unprecedented in Denmark for its application of the "ethical protections" section of the national copyright law, which states an artist's creation cannot be used in a manner which infringes upon their reputation.

Intellectual property expert Dr Alina Trapova informed the media the legal matter was "rare" for its focus on the harm to the integrity of an performer, rather than to them financially.

The extent to which the ruling could affect nations abroad is unclear.

But she said there may be "more and more of these actions" in the future with the advancement of artificial intelligence, where "the sanctity of one's creative output might be tempered with much more easily".