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A Denmark-based man has been convicted of sharing sexually explicit scenes from protected films and TV series on the social media platform Reddit.

According to a law enforcement report obtained by BBC News, the anonymous man shared 347 video excerpts of explicit content in a Reddit group he moderated, which were then viewed 4.2 million-plus times.

The country's police state he has been given a seven-month deferred sentence for copyright infringement.

Experts explain the defendant was charged under a rarely-used provision in Danish copyright law, with the judge finding that by removing the footage out of their intended setting, the accused had damaged the performers' "ethical entitlements".

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

From March 2022 to May 2023, the user using the alias "KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded adult scenes including over 100 female performers.

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

Per the Danish anti-piracy organization The Rights Alliance (TRA), his online community had more than 6,000 members and participants were encouraged to ask for clips of specific actors.

In 2023, advocates reported the case to the authorities on behalf of the impacted artists, directors and production companies, which led to the forum being shut down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, one of the performers whose nude content were shared in the group, explained to local 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 "abuse".

'An important message'

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

In a comment following the ruling, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader remarked the decision sent an "significant" signal "that violations of creators' rights have consequences".

The ruling is viewed as unique in Denmark for its application of the "moral rights" section of the Danish Copyright Act, which states an creator's creation cannot be used in a way which violates their reputation.

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

The extent to which the ruling could influence nations abroad is unclear.

But she added there may be "more and more of these actions" in the future with the advancement of artificial intelligence, where "the sanctity of an individual's work might be compromised with greater ease".