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

According to a police document obtained by media outlets, the anonymous man shared 347 clips of nude scenes in a subreddit he managed, which were then viewed 4.2 million-plus times.

The country's authorities confirm he has been handed a seven-month deferred sentence for violating copyright laws.

Legal analysts say the defendant was charged under a rarely-used clause in Denmark's copyright law, with the judge finding that by taking the footage out of their intended setting, the accused had damaged the artists' "moral rights".

He has additionally been found guilty of sharing more than 25 TB of copyrighted data.

From March 2022 to May 2023, the man using the alias "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted sexually explicit clips including over 100 female performers.

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

According to the Danish copyright protection organization the Rights Alliance, his online community had more than 6,000 members and participants were prompted to request clips of particular performers.

In 2023, advocates filed the case to the authorities on behalf of the affected artists, filmmakers and production companies, which resulted in the subreddit being shut down.

One actress, among the actresses whose explicit content were circulated in the community, told Danish broadcasters at the period she felt there was a difference between being seen unclothed in a movie and being shown on Reddit.

The performer stated the uploads amounted to "abuse".

'A significant message'

The man was arrested in fall 2024 and admitted culpable to the charges recently.

In a comment after the ruling, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader said the decision sent an "important" message "indicating violations of artists' entitlements have consequences".

The verdict is considered unique in Denmark for its use of the "ethical protections" clause of the national copyright law, which states an creator's creation cannot be utilized in a manner which violates their reputation.

Intellectual property expert Dr Alina Trapova told the media the legal matter was "rare" for its focus on the damage to the dignity of an performer, rather than to them economically.

How the case could affect other countries is unclear.

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