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A Denmark-based citizen has been found guilty of sharing sexually explicit segments from copyrighted movies and TV series on the social media platform Reddit.

Based on a law enforcement document obtained by BBC News, the anonymous individual posted 347 clips of explicit content in a subreddit he managed, which were then watched 4.2 million times.

The country's police state he has been given a 7-month deferred jail term for copyright infringement.

Experts explain the man was charged under a seldom-invoked clause in Danish copyright law, with the judge finding that by taking the scenes out of their original context, the man had harmed the artists' "ethical entitlements".

He has additionally been found guilty of sharing more than 25 terabytes of copyrighted data.

From March 2022 to May 2023, the man known as "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted adult scenes featuring over 100 female performers.

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

Per the Denmark's anti-piracy organization the Rights Alliance, his subreddit had more than 6,000 subscribers and users were prompted to request clips of specific actors.

In last year, advocates reported the case to the police on behalf of the affected artists, filmmakers and production companies, which resulted in the subreddit being shut down.

One actress, one of the actresses whose explicit content were circulated in the group, explained to Danish media at the time she believed there was a distinction between appearing unclothed in a film and being shown on Reddit.

The actress said the uploads amounted to "exploitation".

'A significant message'

The man was detained in September 2024 and pleaded culpable to the charges last month.

In a comment following the ruling, TRA head the organization's leader said the outcome sent an "important" message "indicating infringements of artists' rights have consequences".

The verdict is viewed as unique in the country 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 reputation.

Intellectual property expert a legal scholar informed BBC News the legal matter was "unusual" for its focus on the harm to the integrity of an artist, rather than to them financially.

The extent to which the case could influence nations abroad is unclear.

But she said there may be "an increasing number of these actions" in the future with the growth of AI, where "the sanctity of an individual's work might be compromised much more easily".