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A Denmark-based man has been convicted of uploading sexually explicit scenes from protected films and television shows on the online site Reddit.

Based on a police report obtained by media outlets, the anonymous man posted 347 clips of explicit scenes in a subreddit he managed, which were then viewed 4.2 million-plus times.

The country's police state he has been handed a seven-month suspended jail term for copyright infringement.

Experts explain the man was charged under a seldom-invoked provision in Denmark's copyright law, with the judge finding that by taking the scenes out of their original context, the accused had damaged the performers' "ethical entitlements".

He has additionally been convicted of sharing more than 25 TB of protected digital content.

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

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

According to the Denmark's anti-piracy group The Rights Alliance (TRA), his online community had more than 6,000 members and participants were prompted to ask for clips of particular performers.

In 2023, advocates reported the case to the authorities on behalf of the impacted artists, filmmakers and production companies, which led to the forum being shut down.

Andrea Vagn Jensen, among the performers whose nude scenes were shared in the community, explained to Danish broadcasters at the period she felt there was a distinction between appearing unclothed in a movie and being shown on Reddit.

The performer said the posts amounted to "abuse".

'A significant signal'

The man was detained in September 2024 and admitted culpable to the allegations recently.

In a comment after the verdict, TRA head Maria Fredenslund remarked the decision sent an "significant" message "indicating infringements of creators' rights have consequences".

The verdict is considered unique in the country for its use of the "ethical protections" section of the national copyright law, which specifies an creator's work cannot be utilized in a manner which violates their standing.

Copyright law specialist Dr Alina Trapova told BBC News the case was "rare" for its focus on the harm to the integrity of an performer, rather than to them economically.

How the ruling could affect other countries is unclear.

But she added there may be "an increasing number of such cases" in the future with the growth of AI, where "the integrity of an individual's work might be compromised much more easily".