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A Denmark-based citizen has been found guilty of uploading sexually explicit scenes from copyrighted films and television shows on the online platform Reddit.

Based on a law enforcement report obtained by media outlets, the unnamed individual shared 347 clips of explicit scenes in a Reddit group he moderated, which were then watched 4.2 million-plus times.

Danish police state he has been handed a seven-month deferred jail term for copyright infringement.

Legal analysts explain the defendant was charged under a seldom-invoked clause in Danish intellectual property legislation, with the court ruling that by taking the footage out of their original context, the accused had harmed the performers' "ethical entitlements".

He has also been found guilty of sharing more than 25 TB of protected data.

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

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

According to the Denmark's copyright protection organization the Rights Alliance, his online community had more than 6,000 members and participants were prompted to request excerpts of particular performers.

In 2023, advocates reported the incident to the authorities on behalf of the affected artists, directors and production companies, which resulted in the subreddit being shut down.

One actress, one of the performers whose nude content were shared in the community, explained to Danish media at the time she believed there was a distinction between appearing unclothed in a movie and appearing on Reddit.

The performer stated the posts constituted "exploitation".

'An important message'

The defendant was arrested in fall 2024 and admitted culpable to the charges last month.

In a comment after the ruling, the head of the Rights Alliance the organization's leader remarked the decision sent an "important" message "that infringements of creators' rights have repercussions".

The verdict is viewed as unique in the country for its application of the "ethical protections" clause of the Danish Copyright Act, which states an creator's creation cannot be utilized in a manner which violates their reputation.

Intellectual property expert Dr Alina Trapova told the media the legal matter was "unusual" for its emphasis on the damage to the dignity of an performer, rather than to them financially.

How the case could influence nations abroad is unclear.

But she added there may be "an increasing number of such cases" in the coming years with the growth of AI, where "the sanctity of an individual's creative output might be tempered with much more easily".