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A Danish man has been found guilty of uploading sexually explicit scenes from protected movies and television shows on the online site Reddit.

According to a police document obtained by BBC News, the anonymous man shared 347 video excerpts of explicit scenes in a Reddit group he moderated, which were then watched 4.2 million times.

Danish police state he has been given a 7-month suspended jail term for copyright infringement.

Legal analysts say the defendant was prosecuted under a rarely-used provision in Denmark's copyright law, with the court ruling that by removing the scenes out of their original context, the man had damaged the performers' "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 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.

According to the Denmark's anti-piracy group The Rights Alliance (TRA), his subreddit had more than 6,000 members and users were encouraged to request excerpts of specific performers.

In 2023, advocates filed the incident to the authorities on behalf of the impacted actors, directors and producers, which led to the subreddit being closed down.

One actress, among the actresses whose explicit scenes were circulated in the group, explained to Danish broadcasters at the period she believed there was a distinction between appearing naked in a film and appearing on Reddit.

The actress stated the posts constituted "exploitation".

'An important message'

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

In a statement after the ruling, TRA head Maria Fredenslund remarked the decision sent an "significant" message "indicating infringements of artists' entitlements have repercussions".

The verdict is considered unique in the country for its use of the "ethical protections" clause of the national copyright law, which states an artist's work cannot be utilized in a way which violates their reputation.

Intellectual property expert a legal scholar told the media the legal matter was "rare" for its focus on the damage to the integrity of an performer, rather than to them financially.

How the case could affect nations abroad is unclear.

But she added there may be "an increasing number of such cases" in the future with the advancement of AI, where "the integrity of one's creative output might be tempered with with greater ease".