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A Danish man has been convicted of sharing sexually explicit scenes from copyrighted films and television shows on the social media site Reddit.

Based on a police report reviewed by BBC News, the anonymous man posted 347 video excerpts of nude scenes in a Reddit group he moderated, which were then viewed 4.2 million-plus times.

The country's authorities confirm he has been handed a 7-month deferred sentence for copyright infringement.

Legal analysts say the man was charged under a rarely-used provision in Danish copyright law, with the judge ruling that by removing the footage out of their intended setting, the accused had harmed the performers' "moral rights".

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

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

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

Per the Denmark's anti-piracy organization The Rights Alliance (TRA), his subreddit had more than 6,000 subscribers and users were prompted to request clips of particular performers.

In 2023, campaigners filed the case to the authorities on behalf of the affected actors, directors and production companies, which resulted in the forum being shut down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, one of the actresses whose nude content were circulated in the community, told Danish media at the period she believed there was a difference between being seen unclothed in a film and appearing on Reddit.

The performer stated the posts constituted "abuse".

'An important signal'

The defendant was detained in September 2024 and pleaded guilty to the allegations last month.

In a comment after the verdict, the head of the Rights Alliance Maria Fredenslund said the outcome sent an "significant" message "indicating violations of artists' entitlements have consequences".

The ruling is considered unprecedented in Denmark for its application of the "moral rights" clause of the national copyright law, which specifies an creator's creation cannot be used in a manner which infringes upon their reputation.

Intellectual property specialist Dr Alina Trapova informed the media the case was "unusual" for its focus on the damage to the integrity of an performer, rather than to them financially.

The extent to which the case could affect nations abroad is uncertain.

But she added there may be "more and more of such cases" in the coming years with the growth of AI, where "the integrity of one's creative output might be compromised with greater ease".