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A Denmark-based man has been convicted of sharing sexually explicit scenes from copyrighted movies and television shows on the social media platform Reddit.

Based on a law enforcement report reviewed by media outlets, the anonymous individual shared 347 video excerpts of nude content in a subreddit he managed, which were then watched 4.2 million times.

The country's authorities confirm he has been handed a 7-month suspended sentence for copyright infringement.

Experts say the defendant was charged under a seldom-invoked clause in Danish intellectual property legislation, with the judge finding that by taking the scenes out of their intended setting, the accused had damaged the performers' "ethical entitlements".

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

From spring 2022 to mid-2023, the man using the alias "KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted sexually explicit clips including over 100 female performers.

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

According to the Denmark's copyright protection organization the Rights Alliance, his online community had more than 6,000 subscribers and users were encouraged to ask for clips of specific actors.

In last year, advocates filed the incident to the police on behalf of the affected artists, directors and producers, which led to the subreddit being shut down.

One actress, among the actresses whose nude content were shared in the group, told Danish media at the time she felt there was a distinction between being seen naked in a movie and being shown on Reddit.

The performer stated the posts constituted "exploitation".

'A significant message'

The defendant was arrested in September 2024 and admitted culpable to the charges recently.

In a statement after the ruling, TRA head the organization's leader remarked the decision sent an "important" message "that violations of creators' rights has consequences".

The ruling is viewed as unique in Denmark for its application of the "moral rights" section of the national copyright law, which specifies an creator's creation cannot be used in a manner which infringes upon their standing.

Intellectual property specialist a legal scholar told BBC News the legal matter was "rare" for its focus on the harm to the dignity of an performer, rather than to them financially.

How the case could affect other countries is uncertain.

But she added there may be "more and more of these actions" in the future with the advancement of AI, where "the integrity of one's work might be tempered with much more easily".