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A Denmark-based citizen has been found guilty of sharing sexually explicit scenes from copyrighted films and television shows on the social media platform Reddit.

According to a law enforcement report obtained by media outlets, the anonymous man shared 347 clips of explicit content in a subreddit he managed, which were then watched 4.2 million times.

The country's police state he has been given a seven-month suspended sentence for violating copyright laws.

Legal analysts say the defendant was charged under a seldom-invoked provision in Denmark's intellectual property legislation, with the court finding that by taking the footage out of their intended setting, the accused had damaged the artists' "moral rights".

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 posted adult clips including over 100 female performers.

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

Per the Denmark's anti-piracy organization the Rights Alliance, his online community had more than 6,000 members and participants were encouraged to ask for clips of specific performers.

In last year, campaigners reported the incident to the authorities on behalf of the impacted artists, filmmakers and production companies, which led to the subreddit being shut down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, one of the actresses whose explicit content were shared in the community, told Danish media at the period she believed there was a difference between appearing naked in a film and appearing on Reddit.

The performer said the posts amounted to "abuse".

'An important message'

The defendant was arrested in September 2024 and pleaded guilty to the allegations recently.

In a comment after the ruling, TRA head the organization's leader remarked the outcome sent an "significant" message "that infringements of creators' entitlements have repercussions".

The verdict is viewed as unprecedented in Denmark for its application of the "ethical protections" clause of the national copyright law, which states an creator's work cannot be used in a way which violates their standing.

Intellectual property specialist Dr Alina Trapova informed BBC News the legal matter was "rare" for its focus on the damage to the integrity of an performer, rather than to them financially.

The extent to which the case could influence other countries is unclear.

But she said there may be "more and more of such cases" in the future with the growth of artificial intelligence, where "the integrity of one's work might be tempered with much more easily".