Pornography has been dominated by a few pan-European producers and distributors, the most notable of which is the Private Media Group that successfully claimed the position previously held by Color Climax Corporation in the early 1990s.
In Albania, pornography is illegal only for producing, delivery, advertising, import, selling and publication of pornographic materials in persons under 18 years old.
[1] In 1990, the "Federal Act Against Obscene Publications and for the Protection of Youth Morally Endangered" was passed to regulate pornography in Austria.
Authorities tolerate illegal distribution of hardcore porn in designated shops, and on television after 11:00 p.m. Softcore material is rarely censored.
[6][7] Pornography in the Czech Republic was legalized in 1993 following the Velvet Revolution, when the country ceased to be a communist state and returned to liberal democracy.
German prosecution authorities and legal bodies of Germany's sixteen states handle the definition of child pornography very differently.
The German Edathy affair of 2013–14 following the neglected cooperation of BKA within the Canadian child pornography uncoverings gave way for new legislation procedures in parliament to define the status of either posing or exhibitive pictures of minors.
[needs update] Pornography in Greece is legal by selling or publishing material, but it is illegal to minors under 18 years old.
[16] Eventually, domestic producers began to prosper as well, and several female actresses made big names for themselves within the industry.
The first pornographic film in Italy was Il Telefono rosso (The red telephone) in 1983 by Riccardo Schicchi with Ilona Staller (aka "Cicciolina").
The film caused much controversy and it was restrained from legal release until 1986 with an alternate revision of Italian censorship laws.
[25] In Malta, pornography and obscene material was prohibited until the latter part of 2016, regardless of whether it was for commercial purposes or whether it was directed at an adult audience.
The relevant law in this respect was Article 208 (1) of the Criminal Code of Malta which prohibited the manufacture, print, importation, circulation and exportation of pornographic or obscene print, painting, photograph, film, book, card or writing, or any other obscene article whatsoever, whether for gain, or for distribution, or for display in a public place.
[27] In another judgement, student editor Mark Camilleri and author Alex Vella Gera were found not guilty under Article 208 (1) of the Criminal Code and Article 7 of the Press Act (obscene libel) for the publication of an obscene story entitled Li Tkisser Sewwi (translated in English to 'Repair that which you break') in student newspaper Realtà (distributed for free on campus at the University of Malta) by the Court of Magistrates (Malta).
[30] Pornography involving minors, disabled and extreme forms of expression, including threats with the use of such material, remain illegal.
[36][37][38] In Poland, as of September 1998, Article 202 of the national Penal Code makes pornography legal except for the production or possession of pornographic materials containing minors, bestiality (zoophilia), and "scenes of violence/rape".
Videos and magazines are openly sold in newsstands but are forbidden by law to be supplied to minors under the age of 18 years.
[42] Pornography was illegal in Francoist Spain, although some people travelled to France to see films such as Last Tango in Paris and some group tours to French X-rated cinemas were organised.
[citation needed] Subsequently the S-rating for films was introduced, allowing softcore pornography to be shown in mainstream cinemas.
The film genre that arose was known as destape (undressing) and included popular films such as Las eróticas vacaciones de Stela (Stela's Erotic Vacations), El mundo maravilloso del sexo (The Marvellous World of Sex), Trampa sexual (Sexual Trap) and La orgía (The Orgy).
The magazine Interviú, founded in 1976, had revealing covers of famous actresses and included nude photographs inside.
Since the images are usually not made in any child’s likeness and because e.g. manga was deemed an expression of Japanese culture, the Supreme Court ruled that the restraint on the defendant’s freedom of expression would be too great if it was punishable due to the images being held to constitute child pornography.
The first alinea states that «Any person who offers, shows, passes on or makes accessible to a person who is under the age of 16 pornographic documents, sound or visual recordings, depictions or other articles of a similar nature or pornographic representations, or broadcasts any of the same on radio or television is liable to a custodial sentence not exceeding three years or to a monetary penalty.» Furthermore, it is illegal to produce, import, store, market, advertise, exhibit, offer, show, pass on or make accessible pornography that depicts sexual acts involving children (under 16 years old) or animals, human excrement, or acts of violence, called "hard pornography".
After a long period of producing Italian-inspired softcore comedies in the 1970s, the hardcore film Öyle Bir Kadın Ki was distributed in 1979.
[53] Wiska, one of Ukraine's internationally known pornstars, alleges continuous and unconstitutional persecution for her work abroad, and has unsuccessfully applied for political asylum in the European Union.
[54] "In Britain, where pornography is already more restricted than it is anywhere else in the English-speaking world or in Western Europe", wrote Avedon Carol in 1995, "sexual media is easily smeared for an audience that is seldom given an opportunity to see what really is sold under the name of 'pornography'".
The Licensing Act 2003 requires that BBFC classifications be applied to adult works released in England and Wales, or Northern Ireland within a theatrical context.
Due to liberalisation in BBFC policy, mainstream hardcore DVDs now receive R18 certificates, legalising them but restricting their sale to licensed sex shops such as those in Soho.
In the 2004–2005 fiscal year, the agents of His Majesty's Revenue and Customs seized 96,783 items of pornographic media carried by people travelling into the UK.