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A Denmark-based citizen has been convicted of sharing sexually explicit segments from copyrighted movies and television shows on the social media site Reddit.

Based on a police document obtained by media outlets, the unnamed individual shared 347 video excerpts of explicit scenes in a subreddit he managed, which were then watched 4.2 million times.

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

Legal analysts explain the man was prosecuted under a rarely-used provision in Danish copyright law, with the judge finding that by taking the footage out of their intended setting, the man had harmed the performers' "moral rights".

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

From spring 2022 to mid-2023, the man known as "KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded sexually explicit clips including over 100 female performers.

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

According to the Denmark's anti-piracy group the Rights Alliance, his online community had more than 6,000 subscribers and users were prompted to ask for clips of particular performers.

In 2023, campaigners filed the incident to the police on behalf of the impacted artists, directors and producers, which led to the subreddit being shut down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, one of the actresses whose explicit content were shared in the community, told Danish broadcasters at the period she believed there was a distinction between appearing naked in a movie and being shown on Reddit.

The actress stated the uploads constituted "abuse".

'An important signal'

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

In a comment following the verdict, TRA head Maria Fredenslund said the decision sent an "important" signal "indicating violations of artists' entitlements have repercussions".

The verdict is considered unprecedented in the country for its application of the "ethical protections" clause of the national copyright law, which states an creator's work cannot be used in a way which infringes upon their standing.

Intellectual property specialist a legal scholar told BBC News the case was "rare" for its emphasis on the damage to the dignity of an artist, rather than to them financially.

The extent to which the case could affect other countries is uncertain.

But she said there may be "more and more of such cases" in the coming years with the growth of artificial intelligence, where "the integrity of one's work might be compromised much more easily".