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Are Lolis in Eroge illegal in the US?


phersu

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Well, are they? I can't really seem to find an answer. I'm just worried since I have two eroge with loli characters, Maji Koi and Grisaia. Grisaia is being published, with 18+ material, in America by Denpasoft in partnership with Sekai Project, an American company. Neither specify the ages. So....is it legal? Illegal?

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Wether they're illegal or not is a case by case thing in the US.

Basically if the work in question passes the Miller Test for obscenity, then it's "illegal".

If you're caught with loli porn, one judge may rule it obscene, another might not, it's a completely grey area and totally biased.

There's also specific laws for this kind of stuff in each state so there's no global US porn law you can apply, it would depend on the state you're in.

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Here's a hint: If a US company with US employees is distributing the game, and you're a US resident, you're likely completely safe.  They're a much bigger target than you are.  If you're Canadian, Australian, or British... learn to love downloadable versions, or find a less oppressive regime to live under.  Like Russia.

 

iwOGRKX.jpg

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You gotta dig a little bit to find out if cartoon porn with minors in it is considered to be child porn in your state.  Searching on the internet or Wikipedia probably isn't going to be enough; you gotta look at your state's penal code and directly read what they consider child pornography to be.  Most likely, as long as you don't import games with lolis in 18+ situation or distribute them on the internet, you'll probably be fine.

 

Some useful links:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_pornography_laws_in_the_United_States#1466A_-_Obscene_visual_representations_of_the_sexual_abuse_of_children

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Legal_status_of_cartoon_pornography_depicting_minors#United_States

https://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/table_criminal_code

 

Otherwise just look at government sites directly to find that stuff out.

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Yeah, if anything, the states that have laws against cartoon porn containing minors would go after MangaGamer, and they'd be moronic if they didn't cover all the bases before paying money to license something that could get them all arrested and labeled as sex offenders.

 

Still, though, I'd recommend reading your state's penal code anyway.

Here's California's laws on porn.  There is no mention of cartoon porn with minors, so it's presumably legal.

 

Here's Utah's.  It explicitly includes this bit:

"Child pornography" means any visual depiction, including any live performance, 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:

( a ) the production of the visual depiction involves the use of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct;

( b ) the visual depiction is of a minor engaging in sexually explicit conduct; or

( c ) the visual depiction has been created, adapted, or modified to appear that an identifiable minor is engaging in sexually explicit conduct.

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Yeah, if anything, the states that have laws against cartoon porn containing minors would go after MangaGamer, and they'd be moronic if they didn't cover all the bases before paying money to license something that could get them all arrested and labeled as sex offenders.

 

Still, though, I'd recommend reading your state's penal code anyway.

Here's California's laws on porn.  There is no mention of cartoon porn with minors, so it's presumably legal.

 

Here's Utah's.  It explicitly includes this bit:

I'm not in Utah. I looked up mine. It says they have to be 16, but the characters don't specify age. So...I'm good to go.

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I thought I read somewhere mangagamer wasn't based in US?

Mangagamer has servers in the US.  They also have US employees, ship hard copies to US citizens, and they sell their titles at US conventions.

 

 

Here's California's laws on porn.  There is no mention of cartoon porn with minors, so it's presumably legal.

That's not entirely true.

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I'm not in Utah. I looked up mine. It says they have to be 16, but the characters don't specify age. So...I'm good to go.

Keep in mind if you're importing from Japan, you're still subject to obscenity laws, regardless of wether or not the characters are loli. i.e if it's a rape game.

All obscene material can not be shipped, this is pretty much a global law and is mentioned in most terms of use of any mailing service, and if they decide to search your package for whatever reason, you can be in trouble still.

But yeah if you're buying from US based companies, you should be fine.

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I'm assuming that you were talking about this?  That exact language doesn't show up in anything else I've looked up so far.  I'm guessing that that exact wording was changed or removed or something, because the ones I'm looking at are newer, while that one was from 1999.

 

This is presumably the current version of 311.2. (I can't find a CA.gov site that lists laws regarding child porn):

 

311.2.  ( a ) Every person who knowingly sends or causes to be sent,

or brings or causes to be brought, into this state for sale or

distribution, or in this state possesses, prepares, publishes,

produces, or prints, with intent to distribute or to exhibit to

others, or who offers to distribute, distributes, or exhibits to

others, any obscene matter is for a first offense, guilty of a

misdemeanor. If the person has previously been convicted of any

violation of this section, the court may, in addition to the

punishment authorized in Section 311.9, impose a fine not exceeding

fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).

   ( b ) Every person who knowingly sends or causes to be sent, or

brings or causes to be brought, into this state for sale or

distribution, or in this state possesses, prepares, publishes,

produces, develops, duplicates, or prints any representation of

information, data, or image, including, but not limited to, any film,

filmstrip, photograph, negative, slide, photocopy, videotape, video

laser disc, computer hardware, computer software, computer floppy

disc, data storage media, CD-ROM, or computer-generated equipment or

any other computer-generated image that contains or incorporates in

any manner, any film or filmstrip, with intent to distribute or to

exhibit to, or to exchange with, others for commercial consideration,

or who offers to distribute, distributes, or exhibits to, or

exchanges with, others for commercial consideration, any obscene

matter, knowing that the matter depicts a person under the age of 18

years personally engaging in or personally simulating sexual conduct,

as defined in Section 311.4, is guilty of a felony and shall be

punished by imprisonment in the state prison for two, three, or six

years, or by a fine not exceeding one hundred thousand dollars

($100,000), in the absence of a finding that the defendant would be

incapable of paying that fine, or by both that fine and imprisonment.

   ( c ) Every person who knowingly sends or causes to be sent, or

brings or causes to be brought, into this state for sale or

distribution, or in this state possesses, prepares, publishes,

produces, develops, duplicates, or prints any representation of

information, data, or image, including, but not limited to, any film,

filmstrip, photograph, negative, slide, photocopy, videotape, video

laser disc, computer hardware, computer software, computer floppy

disc, data storage media, CD-ROM, or computer-generated equipment or

any other computer-generated image that contains or incorporates in

any manner, any film or filmstrip, with intent to distribute or

exhibit to, or to exchange with, a person 18 years of age or older,

or who offers to distribute, distributes, or exhibits to, or

exchanges with, a person 18 years of age or older any matter, knowing

that the matter depicts a person under the age of 18 years

personally engaging in or personally simulating sexual conduct, as

defined in Section 311.4, shall be punished by imprisonment in the

county jail for up to one year, or by a fine not exceeding two

thousand dollars ($2,000), or by both that fine and imprisonment, or

by imprisonment in the state prison. It is not necessary to prove

commercial consideration or that the matter is obscene in order to

establish a violation of this subdivision. If a person has been

previously convicted of a violation of this subdivision, he or she is

guilty of a felony.

   ( d ) Every person who knowingly sends or causes to be sent, or

brings or causes to be brought, into this state for sale or

distribution, or in this state possesses, prepares, publishes,

produces, develops, duplicates, or prints any representation of

information, data, or image, including, but not limited to, any film,

filmstrip, photograph, negative, slide, photocopy, videotape, video

laser disc, computer hardware, computer software, computer floppy

disc, data storage media, CD-ROM, or computer-generated equipment or

any other computer-generated image that contains or incorporates in

any manner, any film or filmstrip, with intent to distribute or

exhibit to, or to exchange with, a person under 18 years of age, or

who offers to distribute, distributes, or exhibits to, or exchanges

with, a person under 18 years of age any matter, knowing that the

matter depicts a person under the age of 18 years personally engaging

in or personally simulating sexual conduct, as defined in Section

311.4, is guilty of a felony. It is not necessary to prove commercial

consideration or that the matter is obscene in order to establish a

violation of this subdivision.

   ( e ) Subdivisions (a) to (d), inclusive, do not apply to the

activities of law enforcement and prosecuting agencies in the

investigation and prosecution of criminal offenses, to legitimate

medical, scientific, or educational activities, or to lawful conduct

between spouses.

   ( f ) This section does not apply to matter that depicts a legally

emancipated child under the age of 18 years or to lawful conduct

between spouses when one or both are under the age of 18 years.

   ( g ) It does not constitute a violation of this section for a

telephone corporation, as defined by Section 234 of the Public

Utilities Code, to carry or transmit messages described in this

chapter or to perform related activities in providing telephone

services.

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I dug into the California Penal Code while I was writing that up.

 

Here is the relevant section:

 

 

311.2. (a) Every person who knowingly sends or causes to be sent,

or brings or causes to be brought, into this state for sale or
distribution, or in this state possesses, prepares, publishes,
produces, or prints, with intent to distribute or to exhibit to
others, or who offers to distribute, distributes, or exhibits to
others, any obscene matter is for a first offense, guilty of a
misdemeanor.
If the person has previously been convicted of any
violation of this section, the court may, in addition to the
punishment authorized in Section 311.9, impose a fine not exceeding
fifty thousand dollars ($50,000).

 

Not to mention you could be charged under the US Protect Act for interstate commerce involving obscene materials depicting minors in ANY state, assuming a package was shipped across state borders or data was transferred over the Internet.

 

By the way, "obscene" is legal speak for Your rights end where my feelings begin.

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Wow, I didn't know that law was still on the books  O.o  That is hilariously stupid.

 

And yeah, federal people can do whatever they want, they just usually don't because it's generally too much of a hassle for too poor results.  They can legally raid legal pot stores in Colorado and Washington because pot is still illegal in the US itself, but they don't that often.  Stuff like that tends to piss states and citizens off, anyway.

 

The obscenity bit is just pure stupidity, and it always has been.  Japan has the same law in their penal code, but it's just interpreted more harshly.  I wish we'd get rid of that stupid measurement.  There is no way to objectively measure obscenity, so the idea itself is laughably stupid.

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Obscenity law was conceived as a catch-all to keep unsavory subcultures underground and out of sight.  I don't begrudge that aspect of it; the problem I have is when such laws infringe on the right to enjoy offensive materials in the privacy of one's home.  I'm not demanding the right to do this;

 

f5ht1OH.jpg

 

I just want to play loli games in my home without fear of molestation.

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Serious question: How many people in the US have been convicted for having lolicon hentai? 

 

I don't have any sources so obviously don't take this as much, but I remember reading relatively recently that 5 people had been arrested for drawn images since the Defense of Children Act and that 4 of them had been convicted. I don't know how many have been solely from lolicon hentai alone though.

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I don't have any sources so obviously don't take this as much, but I remember reading relatively recently that 5 people had been arrested for drawn images since the Defense of Children Act and that 4 of them had been convicted. I don't know how many have been solely from lolicon hentai alone though.

That moment when drawn characters have more righta and protection than you do. :sachi:
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