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A Danish citizen has been found guilty of uploading sexually explicit segments from protected movies and TV series on the online site Reddit.

Based on a police report reviewed by media outlets, the anonymous individual posted 347 video excerpts of explicit content in a Reddit group he moderated, which were then viewed 4.2 million-plus times.

The country's police state he has been given a seven-month deferred sentence for violating copyright laws.

Legal analysts say the defendant was prosecuted under a rarely-used clause in Denmark's intellectual property legislation, with the judge finding that by taking the footage out of their original context, the accused had damaged the performers' "moral rights".

He has additionally been found guilty of sharing more than 25 terabytes of protected data.

From March 2022 to May 2023, the man known as "KlammereFyr" on Reddit uploaded sexually explicit clips including over 100 actresses.

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

Per the Denmark's copyright protection group The Rights Alliance (TRA), his online community had more than 6,000 subscribers and users were prompted to request clips of particular performers.

In 2023, campaigners filed the case to the police on behalf of the affected actors, filmmakers and production companies, which led to the subreddit being shut down.

One actress, one of the performers whose explicit content were shared in the group, told Danish broadcasters at the period she believed there was a difference between appearing naked in a movie and being shown on Reddit.

The actress stated the posts constituted "exploitation".

'An important signal'

The man was arrested in fall 2024 and admitted guilty to the allegations last month.

In a comment following the verdict, the head of the Rights Alliance Maria Fredenslund remarked the decision sent an "important" message "that infringements of artists' rights has consequences".

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 used in a way which violates their standing.

Intellectual property expert Dr Alina Trapova told BBC News the case was "unusual" for its focus on the harm to the dignity of an artist, rather than to them economically.

How the case could affect 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 an individual's creative output might be compromised much more easily".