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A Danish citizen has been convicted of sharing sexually explicit scenes from protected movies and television shows on the online platform Reddit.

Based on a police document reviewed by media outlets, the anonymous man posted 347 clips of explicit content in a subreddit he moderated, which were then watched 4.2 million times.

Danish authorities state he has been handed a 7-month deferred sentence for copyright infringement.

Legal analysts say the man was prosecuted under a seldom-invoked clause in Danish copyright law, with the judge ruling that by removing the footage out of their original context, the man had harmed the performers' "ethical entitlements".

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

From spring 2022 to May 2023, the man using the alias "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted adult clips including over 100 actresses.

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

According to the Denmark's anti-piracy organization the Rights Alliance, his online community had more than 6,000 subscribers and participants were prompted to request clips of particular actors.

In 2023, campaigners filed the incident to the police on behalf of the affected artists, filmmakers and production companies, which resulted in the subreddit being shut down.

One actress, one of the actresses whose explicit scenes were shared in the group, told Danish broadcasters at the time she believed there was a distinction between appearing unclothed in a movie and appearing on Reddit.

The actress said the posts amounted to "exploitation".

'A significant signal'

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

In a statement after the ruling, TRA head the organization's leader remarked the outcome sent an "significant" message "that violations of creators' rights has repercussions".

The verdict is considered unprecedented in the country for its application of the "ethical protections" section of the national copyright law, which specifies an creator's work cannot be utilized in a manner which infringes upon their reputation.

Intellectual property specialist a legal scholar informed the media the case was "unusual" for its focus on the harm to the integrity of an artist, rather than to them economically.

The extent to which the ruling could influence other countries is uncertain.

But she added there may be "an increasing number of such cases" in the coming years with the advancement of AI, where "the integrity of one's creative output might be compromised much more easily".