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A Denmark-based man has been convicted of sharing sexually explicit scenes from protected films and TV series on the social media site Reddit.

Based on a law enforcement report reviewed by BBC News, the anonymous man shared 347 video excerpts of explicit content in a subreddit he managed, which were then watched 4.2 million times.

Danish authorities state he has been handed a 7-month suspended sentence for copyright infringement.

Legal analysts explain the man was prosecuted under a rarely-used provision in Danish intellectual property legislation, with the court finding that by removing the footage out of their original context, the accused had harmed the artists' "ethical entitlements".

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

From spring 2022 to mid-2023, the man known as "the pseudonym KlammereFyr" on Reddit posted adult scenes including over 100 actresses.

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

Per the Denmark's anti-piracy group The Rights Alliance (TRA), his online community had more than 6,000 subscribers and users were encouraged to request excerpts of specific actors.

In 2023, advocates filed the incident to the authorities on behalf of the impacted artists, directors and producers, which led to the forum being shut down.

One actress, among the performers whose nude scenes were circulated in the community, explained to Danish media at the period she felt there was a distinction between being seen unclothed in a film and being shown on Reddit.

The performer said the posts constituted "exploitation".

'An important message'

The defendant was detained in September 2024 and pleaded guilty to the allegations recently.

In a comment following the ruling, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader remarked the outcome sent an "significant" signal "that infringements of artists' rights has repercussions".

The verdict is considered unprecedented in Denmark for its use of the "moral rights" clause of the national copyright law, which specifies an artist's creation cannot be utilized in a way which violates their reputation.

Copyright law specialist Dr Alina Trapova informed the media the legal matter was "rare" for its emphasis on the harm to the dignity of an performer, rather than to them economically.

How the case could affect nations abroad is uncertain.

But she added there may be "more and more of such cases" in the coming years with the advancement of AI, where "the integrity of one's work might be tempered with with greater ease".