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A Denmark-based man has been found guilty of uploading sexually explicit segments from protected movies and television shows on the social media site Reddit.

Based on a law enforcement document reviewed by media outlets, the anonymous man shared 347 clips of explicit content in a Reddit group he moderated, which were then viewed 4.2 million-plus times.

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

Legal analysts say the defendant was prosecuted under a seldom-invoked clause in Denmark's intellectual property legislation, with the judge ruling that by removing the scenes out of their original context, the accused had harmed the artists' "ethical entitlements".

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

From March 2022 to mid-2023, the man using the alias "KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded adult clips including over 100 actresses.

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

Per the Danish anti-piracy organization the Rights Alliance, his subreddit had more than 6,000 members and participants were prompted to ask for excerpts of particular actors.

In last year, campaigners filed the incident to the police on behalf of the affected actors, directors and producers, which led to the forum being shut down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, one of the performers whose explicit content were shared in the group, explained to local broadcasters at the period she felt there was a difference between appearing unclothed in a movie and appearing on Reddit.

The performer said the uploads amounted to "abuse".

'An important message'

The man was detained in fall 2024 and pleaded guilty to the charges recently.

In a statement following the ruling, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader said the outcome sent an "significant" signal "indicating violations of artists' entitlements have repercussions".

The ruling is considered unique in Denmark for its use of the "moral rights" clause of the Danish Copyright Act, which specifies an creator's creation cannot be used in a way which violates their standing.

Copyright law specialist Dr Alina Trapova told BBC News the legal matter was "unusual" for its emphasis on the damage to the dignity of an artist, rather than to them economically.

How the ruling could affect nations abroad is uncertain.

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