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A Danish citizen has been found guilty of sharing sexually explicit segments from protected films and television shows on the social media site Reddit.

Based on a police report reviewed by media outlets, the unnamed man posted 347 video excerpts of explicit scenes in a subreddit he managed, which were then watched 4.2 million times.

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

Experts say the defendant was charged under a seldom-invoked clause in Denmark's intellectual property legislation, with the court finding that by removing the footage out of their original context, the accused had damaged the artists' "moral rights".

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

From spring 2022 to May 2023, the user using the alias "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded adult clips including over 100 actresses.

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

Per the Danish anti-piracy organization the Rights Alliance, his online community had more than 6,000 subscribers and users were prompted to request clips of specific actors.

In last year, campaigners reported the case to the authorities on behalf of the affected actors, directors and production companies, which resulted in the forum being shut down.

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

The performer stated the uploads constituted "abuse".

'A significant message'

The man was arrested in September 2024 and admitted culpable to the allegations recently.

In a statement after the ruling, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader said the decision sent an "significant" signal "indicating violations of artists' rights have repercussions".

The verdict is viewed as unique in the country for its use of the "moral rights" clause of the Danish Copyright Act, which specifies an creator's creation cannot be utilized in a way which violates their reputation.

Intellectual property specialist a legal scholar told the media the case was "unusual" for its emphasis on the harm to the dignity of an performer, rather than to them financially.

How the ruling could affect other countries is uncertain.

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