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

Based on a law enforcement document obtained by BBC News, the unnamed man shared 347 clips of explicit content in a Reddit group he moderated, which were then watched 4.2 million times.

The country's authorities state he has been given a seven-month suspended jail term for copyright infringement.

Legal analysts say the man was charged under a rarely-used provision in Danish copyright law, with the judge finding that by removing the scenes out of their intended setting, the man had damaged the performers' "ethical entitlements".

He has additionally been convicted of sharing more than 25 terabytes of protected digital content.

From spring 2022 to May 2023, the man known as "KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted adult scenes featuring over 100 actresses.

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

Per the Denmark's anti-piracy organization The Rights Alliance (TRA), his subreddit had more than 6,000 members and users were prompted to request clips of specific performers.

In 2023, campaigners filed the incident to the authorities on behalf of the impacted artists, filmmakers and producers, which led to the subreddit being shut down.

One actress, one of the performers whose nude content were circulated in the community, explained to Danish media at the time she believed there was a difference between being seen naked in a film and being shown on Reddit.

The actress stated the posts constituted "abuse".

'An important message'

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

In a comment after the verdict, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader remarked the decision sent an "important" signal "indicating violations of artists' entitlements have repercussions".

The ruling is viewed as unique in Denmark for its application of the "moral rights" section of the Danish Copyright Act, which specifies an creator's work cannot be utilized in a manner which infringes upon their standing.

Copyright law expert a legal scholar told the media the legal matter was "unusual" for its focus on the damage to the dignity of an artist, rather than to them economically.

How the case could affect nations abroad is uncertain.

But she added there may be "an increasing number of such cases" in the future with the growth of AI, where "the sanctity of one's creative output might be compromised much more easily".