Child pornography laws in Australia
Encyclopedia
Child pornography laws in Australia state that all sexualised depictions of children under the age of 18 (Under 16 in some states.) (or who appear to be under that age) are illegal and it has banned photographs of women with an A breast cup size even in their late 20s as "encouraging pedophilia", leading to a marked increase in the breast size of women depicted in Australian magazines.
Furthermore, there is a zero-tolerance policy in place, which covers purely fictional children as well as real children.
n was sentenced to pay an A$9,000 fine for attempting to import eight DVD
s of Japanese anime found to contain pornographic depictions of children and 14 found to contain depictions of sexual violence. No images of real children were involved. "Customs National Manager Investigations, Richard Janeczko, said that it was important to understand that even cartoons or drawings such as those depicted in anime were prohibited if they contained offensive sexual content."
(Bart
& Lisa
) was child pornography, because "[i]t follows that a fictional cartoon character, even one which departs from recognisable human forms in some significant respects, may nevertheless be the depiction of a person within the meaning of the Act."
commenting on it: "I suspect the Judge might have just granted human rights to cartoon characters. I think it's nonsensical in every way that it could possibly be nonsensical."
Furthermore, there is a zero-tolerance policy in place, which covers purely fictional children as well as real children.
Japanese anime
In August 2007, an AustraliaAustralia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n was sentenced to pay an A$9,000 fine for attempting to import eight DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
s of Japanese anime found to contain pornographic depictions of children and 14 found to contain depictions of sexual violence. No images of real children were involved. "Customs National Manager Investigations, Richard Janeczko, said that it was important to understand that even cartoons or drawings such as those depicted in anime were prohibited if they contained offensive sexual content."
No cartoon depictions
Also, in December 2008, a New South Wales Supreme Court judge, Justice Michael Adams, ruled to uphold a magistrate's decision that a pornographic cartoon parodying characters on The SimpsonsThe Simpsons
The Simpsons is an American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The series is a satirical parody of a middle class American lifestyle epitomized by its family of the same name, which consists of Homer, Marge, Bart, Lisa and Maggie...
(Bart
Bart Simpson
Bartholomew JoJo "Bart" Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons and part of the Simpson family. He is voiced by actress Nancy Cartwright and first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987...
& Lisa
Lisa Simpson
Lisa Marie Simpson is a fictional main character in the animated television series The Simpsons. She is the middle child of the Simpson family. Voiced by Yeardley Smith, Lisa first appeared on television in The Tracey Ullman Show short "Good Night" on April 19, 1987. Cartoonist Matt Groening...
) was child pornography, because "[i]t follows that a fictional cartoon character, even one which departs from recognisable human forms in some significant respects, may nevertheless be the depiction of a person within the meaning of the Act."
Against a black market for child abuse
The plaintiff, Alan John McEwan, was fined $3000 Aus ($3,170 US), which was a leniency as under the law, a maximum penalty of 10 years can be applied for possession of this form of cartoon pornography. Judge Adams explained the law was appropriate because cartoons could "fuel demand for material that does involve the abuse of children". In reference to legal interpretation he commented "A cartoon character might well constitute the depiction of such a person". A BBC reporter summarized the judge's decision: "he decided that the mere fact that they were not realistic representations of human beings did not mean that they could not be considered people".International precedent
This case has attracted international attention, alongside attention to more local cases, with author Neil GaimanNeil Gaiman
Neil Richard Gaiman born 10 November 1960)is an English author of short fiction, novels, comic books, graphic novels, audio theatre and films. His notable works include the comic book series The Sandman and novels Stardust, American Gods, Coraline, and The Graveyard Book...
commenting on it: "I suspect the Judge might have just granted human rights to cartoon characters. I think it's nonsensical in every way that it could possibly be nonsensical."