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A Denmark-based citizen has been convicted of sharing sexually explicit segments from protected movies and TV series on the online site Reddit.

According to a police report obtained by media outlets, the anonymous man posted 347 video excerpts of explicit content in a subreddit he managed, which were then viewed 4.2 million times.

The country's police state he has been handed a 7-month deferred jail term for copyright infringement.

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

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

From spring 2022 to mid-2023, the user known as "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted sexually explicit scenes featuring over 100 actresses.

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

Per the Danish anti-piracy group the Rights Alliance, his subreddit had more than 6,000 subscribers and users were prompted to request clips of particular performers.

In 2023, campaigners filed the incident to the authorities on behalf of the impacted actors, filmmakers and production companies, which resulted in the subreddit being closed down.

One actress, among the actresses whose explicit content were circulated in the group, explained to local broadcasters at the time she felt there was a distinction between being seen naked in a film and appearing on Reddit.

The actress stated the uploads amounted to "abuse".

'An important signal'

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

In a statement following the ruling, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader remarked the outcome sent an "important" signal "that infringements of creators' entitlements have repercussions".

The ruling is viewed as unique in Denmark for its use of the "ethical protections" section of the national copyright law, which specifies an artist's work cannot be used in a way which infringes upon their reputation.

Intellectual property expert Dr Alina Trapova told the media the case was "rare" for its focus on the harm to the integrity of an performer, rather than to them financially.

How the case could influence other countries is uncertain.

But she said there may be "an increasing number of these actions" in the future with the growth of artificial intelligence, where "the integrity of an individual's work might be compromised much more easily".