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A Denmark-based citizen has been found guilty of sharing sexually explicit scenes from copyrighted films and television shows on the social media site Reddit.

According to a police report reviewed by BBC News, the anonymous man posted 347 video excerpts of nude scenes in a Reddit group he moderated, which were then watched 4.2 million times.

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

Experts explain the defendant was charged under a rarely-used provision in Danish intellectual property legislation, with the court ruling that by removing the scenes out of their original context, the accused had damaged the performers' "moral rights".

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

From March 2022 to mid-2023, the man known as "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted adult clips including over 100 actresses.

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

According to the Danish copyright protection group The Rights Alliance (TRA), his subreddit had more than 6,000 subscribers and participants were encouraged to request clips of particular performers.

In 2023, advocates filed the case to the authorities on behalf of the impacted actors, filmmakers and producers, which resulted in the forum being shut down.

One actress, among the performers whose nude scenes were circulated in the group, told Danish media at the time she believed there was a difference between appearing naked in a movie and appearing on Reddit.

The performer said the uploads constituted "exploitation".

'An important signal'

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

In a statement following the verdict, the head of the Rights Alliance Maria Fredenslund remarked the outcome sent an "important" signal "indicating violations of creators' rights has repercussions".

The ruling is considered unique in the country for its application of the "moral rights" clause of the national copyright law, which specifies an artist's work cannot be used in a way which infringes upon their reputation.

Copyright law specialist Dr Alina Trapova informed the media the case was "rare" for its emphasis on the damage to the integrity of an artist, rather than to them financially.

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

But she added there may be "more and more of such cases" in the coming years with the growth of artificial intelligence, where "the integrity of an individual's work might be tempered with with greater ease".