Anime and the Protection of Children Act

Thanks to those who did vote in my pole? Due to the lack of comments I take it there is no clear cut answer on this then

If you want to make your minds up for your self, here is the full act.

All opinions welcome because I bet lots of people would find their jobs a lot easier if an answer to this could be found

http//www.opsi.gov.uk/Acts/acts1978/PDF/ukpga_19780037_en.pdf

Check out this story on that very subject.

Anime Collector Trial

It seems very specific to "Photographs" and "Film" and thus drawings or renditions are not subject to this (I am no lawyer and know less than the common person about law).

US Law is a bit more specific
"“child pornography” means any visual depiction, including any photograph, film, video, picture, or computer or computer-generated image or picture, whether made or produced by electronic, mechanical, or other means, of sexually explicit conduct, where— "

Brian

Thanks to those who did vote in my pole? Due to the lack of comments I take it there is no clear cut answer on this then

If you want to make your minds up for your self, here is the full act.

All opinions welcome because I bet lots of people would find their jobs a lot easier if an answer to this could be found

http//www.opsi.gov.uk/Acts/acts1978/PDF/ukpga_19780037_en.pdf

I don't know about how things stand under British law, but under Canadian law things are pretty clear anime does constitute child pornography if it depicts a person under the age of 18 engaged in explicit sexual activity.

I've never heard of it being an issue for our prosecutors however as there is usually so much other evidence (photos, videos, etc.) that it doesn't matter if there is some questionnable anime. The vast majority of our cases plead guilty because of the overwhelming amount of evidence we typically find (and perhaps also because they may only get a light sentence, unlike in the US where they would face serious time).

I imagine that we have probably had customs seizure cases dealing exclusively with anime however. I just don't know of any off hand.

Here's what our criminal code says

Definition of “child pornography”

163.1 (1) In this section, “child pornography” means
(a) a photographic, film, video or other visual representation, whether or not it was made by electronic or mechanical means,
(i) that shows a person who is or is depicted as being under the age of eighteen years and is engaged in or is depicted as engaged in explicit sexual activity, or
(ii) the dominant characteristic of which is the depiction, for a sexual purpose, of a sexual organ or the a**l region of a person under the age of eighteen years;
(b) any written material, visual representation or audio recording that advocates or counsels sexual activity with a person under the age of eighteen years that would be an offence under this Act;
© any written material whose dominant characteristic is the description, for a sexual purpose, of sexual activity with a person under the age of eighteen years that would be an offence under this Act; or
(d) any audio recording that has as its dominant characteristic the description, presentation or representation, for a sexual purpose, of sexual activity with a person under the age of eighteen years that would be an offence under this Act.

I would think that quick call to a lawyer or the local tech-crime or child exploitation unit should get you an authoritative answer.

You probably aren't going to get many personal opinions on this one. If anyone questions these types of laws it surely means that they are into that kind of stuff. Right?

I'm not asking whether it should be legal, I'm trying to find out factually whether it is or isn't legal. This is due to the fact that people do use it as a defence, I'm finding out whether they have a leg to stand on, if you see what I mean in that sense

Just remembered, in Canada we also have a law against corrupting morals that covers "crime comics"

Corrupting morals

163. (1) Every one commits an offence who

(a) makes, prints, publishes, distributes, circulates, or has in his possession for the purpose of publication, distribution or circulation any obscene written matter, picture, model, phonograph record or other thing whatever; or

(b) makes, prints, publishes, distributes, sells or has in his possession for the purpose of publication, distribution or circulation a crime comic.

Definition of “crime comic”
(7) In this section, "crime comic" means a magazine, periodical or book that exclusively or substantially comprises matter depicting pictorially

(a) the commission of crimes, real or fictitious; or

(b) events connected with the commission of crimes, real or fictitious, whether occurring before or after the commission of the crime.

Not sure if it gets used much, last time I looked we can still get Superman, Batman, Tintin, The NewYork Times, etc. up here in the great white north… roll