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

According to a police report reviewed by media outlets, the unnamed man shared 347 clips of nude scenes in a subreddit he managed, which were then watched 4.2 million-plus times.

The country's authorities confirm he has been given a 7-month suspended sentence for violating copyright laws.

Experts say the defendant was prosecuted under a rarely-used clause in Denmark's copyright law, with the judge finding that by removing the scenes out of their intended setting, the man had harmed the artists' "moral rights".

He has also been convicted of sharing more than 25 terabytes of copyrighted digital content.

From spring 2022 to mid-2023, the man known as "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded sexually explicit scenes including over 100 female performers.

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

According to the Danish copyright protection group The Rights Alliance (TRA), his subreddit had more than 6,000 subscribers and participants were encouraged to request excerpts of particular performers.

In last year, campaigners filed the case to the police on behalf of the impacted actors, filmmakers and production companies, which led to the forum being closed down.

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

The actress stated the uploads constituted "exploitation".

'An important signal'

The defendant was arrested in fall 2024 and admitted guilty to the allegations recently.

In a comment after the verdict, TRA head the organization's leader said the outcome sent an "significant" message "indicating violations of creators' rights has consequences".

The verdict is viewed as unique in Denmark for its application of the "ethical protections" clause of the national copyright law, which specifies an artist's creation cannot be used in a manner which violates their standing.

Copyright law specialist Dr Alina Trapova told the media the legal matter was "rare" for its focus on the harm to the integrity of an artist, rather than to them economically.

How the ruling could influence nations abroad is unclear.

But she said there may be "an increasing number of such cases" in the coming years with the growth of artificial intelligence, where "the integrity of an individual's work might be compromised with greater ease".