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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 platform Reddit.

Based on a law enforcement report reviewed by BBC News, the unnamed man posted 347 clips of explicit scenes in a subreddit he managed, which were then watched 4.2 million times.

Danish authorities state he has been handed a seven-month suspended jail term for copyright infringement.

Experts explain the man was prosecuted under a rarely-used provision in Danish intellectual property legislation, with the court ruling that by removing the scenes out of their original context, the accused had damaged the performers' "ethical entitlements".

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

From spring 2022 to May 2023, the user known as "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted sexually explicit scenes featuring over 100 female performers.

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

Per the Danish anti-piracy organization The Rights Alliance (TRA), his subreddit had more than 6,000 members and users were prompted to ask for excerpts of specific performers.

In last year, advocates reported the incident to the authorities on behalf of the affected artists, directors and producers, which resulted in the subreddit being shut down.

One actress, one of the actresses whose explicit content were shared in the community, told local broadcasters at the period she felt there was a difference between being seen unclothed in a film and appearing on Reddit.

The actress stated the posts amounted to "exploitation".

'A significant signal'

The man was detained in fall 2024 and pleaded guilty to the allegations last month.

In a comment following the verdict, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader said the outcome sent an "important" message "indicating infringements of artists' rights have repercussions".

The ruling is considered unique in the country for its application of the "moral rights" section of the Danish Copyright Act, which states an artist's work cannot be used in a manner which infringes upon their reputation.

Copyright law expert Dr Alina Trapova informed BBC News the case was "rare" for its focus on the damage to the integrity of an artist, rather than to them economically.

How the case could affect other countries is unclear.

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