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A Danish man has been convicted of uploading sexually explicit segments from copyrighted movies and television shows on the online platform Reddit.

According to a law enforcement document obtained by media outlets, the anonymous man posted 347 video excerpts of explicit scenes in a Reddit group he managed, which were then viewed 4.2 million times.

The country's authorities state he has been given a 7-month deferred jail term for violating copyright laws.

Experts say the defendant was prosecuted under a seldom-invoked clause in Danish intellectual property legislation, with the judge finding that by taking the scenes out of their original context, the man had harmed the performers' "moral rights".

He has also been convicted of distributing more than 25 TB of copyrighted digital content.

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

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

According to the Denmark's anti-piracy group The Rights Alliance (TRA), his online community had more than 6,000 subscribers and participants were prompted to request excerpts of specific performers.

In last year, campaigners reported the case to the police on behalf of the affected artists, directors and production companies, which resulted in the subreddit being closed down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, among the performers whose nude scenes were circulated in the community, told local broadcasters at the period she believed there was a distinction between appearing unclothed in a movie and being shown on Reddit.

The actress stated the posts constituted "abuse".

'A significant message'

The defendant was arrested in September 2024 and admitted culpable to the charges last month.

In a comment after the ruling, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader said the decision sent an "important" message "that infringements of creators' entitlements has repercussions".

The ruling is viewed as unprecedented in the country for its application of the "ethical protections" clause of the Danish Copyright Act, which specifies an creator's work cannot be used in a manner which violates 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.

The extent to which the ruling could influence nations abroad is uncertain.

But she said there may be "more and more of these actions" in the future with the growth of artificial intelligence, where "the integrity of one's creative output might be compromised much more easily".