List of works that were legal when created and later banned as child pornography
The list of works that were legal when created and later banned as child pornography contains several titles. A 1974 sex education book for children called Show Me! used to be available in American bookstores in the 1970s, but has since been driven out of circulation by American child pornography laws,[1] although the original German version of the book is still available in that country. The reason is that, in the 1970s, child pornography could not be banned unless it was proven to be obscene, but in 1982, the Supreme Court issued the New York v. Ferber decision, which ruled that any depiction of child sexual activity could be banned as child pornography regardless of whether legal authorities could prove it was obscene.
Another example of items that used to be available commercially but were later banned as child pornography would be the films of actress Traci Lords. Traci Lords had a prolific career as a teenage porn actress in the 1980s -- she was the lead in the hit New Wave Hooker] -- but she did so with documents that falsely indicated she was over 18. As a result, all of her pornographic film performances are banned in the United States, except for Traci, I Love You, the only film she made after turning 18.
The Swedish national library makes vintage child pornography available to researchers and journalists.[2]
List
- The West German-Italian movie Maladolescenza (1977). In 2010 the Netherlands banned the movie after classifying some scenes in it as child pornography and therefore in breach of Section 240b of the Netherlands Penal Code. The movie is chiefly remembered (and objected to) for using two 12-year-old actresses in scenes showing nudity and simulated sex with a young actor.
- The West German movie Therèse and Isabelle (1968, reissued 1972). In 1968 the state of Pennsylvania (USA) banned the movie for its frequent scenes of two teen lesbian lovers in brutal sexual encounters with men. Ban reversed in the same year.
- The movie Die Blechtrommel (The Tin Drum) (1979, West Germany, France, Poland, Yugoslavia). Story set at the eve of WW2 in Nazi Germany. In 1979 the state of Oklahoma (USA) banned the movie as obscene and child pornography. No further information.
