Help - Question about art legality on the forum/net

[Persona]

Hello all,

I've already sent a message like this to some mods, but just in case I don't hear back from them or if someone knows better I thought I'd post this here as well. Hopefully you'll be able to help me out.

I happen to love tickling/foot art and I frequent the tickling/non-tickling forms quite a bit since I've started coming here. I also browse the net for images as well. Long story short is that I've read over the rules for posting in the Art forums (Tickling as well as non-tickling) and I was looking through the 'Anime Feet' thread and noticed that there were quite a few pictures that might have violated the rules.

I'm not writing this to rat anyone out. Not by any means is that my aim. I'm actually more concerned about what complications could arise from opening or having those files on my computer.

For example, there is an image in the 'anime feet' thread of a girl form a popular anime who is giving a footjob. From what I remember, she is definitely not 18 years old. There are images like this all over threads and all over the internet. After browsing through the forum and some art threads I realized I had seen a fair share of those types of art, and I immediately started getting scared about whether or not those images would be considered child pornography. I don't know how the law applies to manga/hentai/art in the US, but the thought of having someone charge me with viewing or possessing child pornography absolutely scares the hell out of me, as I have no interest in it and a charge like that could ruin a persons life.

Is there any worry to have seen/open/possessed images like that? I've gone back and deleted any images off my computer that might fit that description, but I'm still just very nervous about stuff like that. If I do believe I may have unknowingly opened or had an image that would be considered to fit that illegal description, is there any way to protect myself or show that I did not download that material with child porn as a motive?

Any help or guidance would be greatly appreciated. I hope I'm just being overly paranoid, but please let me know your thoughts. Thanks.

Persona

 

[skull108]

Phoe thats a tough one

There are indeed images of art that show underaged character or created persons.Imo it's still wrong but take in mind it's not real and it's created, little disturbing but not excatly something to stay awake from.

I also believe u can't realy help it when u see a post that seas tickling in it , ure intrested u see a file but u can't realy see details about it , u click , it opens , omg kiddy stuff, it happens.If it's not specified u can't avoid it then.Especially with anime/manga stuff, those things are overflowing and filled with that stuff.They can make awsome characters and breathtaking suits with so much detail and colours it's awsome art while at the same time they also can create stuff that i find disturbing and a waste of talent , but hey if they wonna do that , it's there thing.

Don't think u need to be worried too much about it.Everyone who surfs on the net can come across things they don't want to.Besides if u don't like that u don't look it up and won't have much files about it then a person who actually is into that stuff and has like have a hard drive filled with it.

So i believe ure being a tad overly paranoid from it.

 

[MistressValerie1]

Please report any posts at the forum that appear to contain underage characters, using the "Report bad Post" (exclamation point) icon. Also please mention which image(s) you are reporting if there is more than one image in the post.

Whether any particular image would be illegal for you to possess depends on what state you are in, since each state defines "child pornography" slightly differently. For a definitive answer, you would need to consult a lawyer, but most legal actions I know of in the USA have been taken against people who have commercially purchased underage material (including cartoons). Deleting unwanted material from your computer and its recycle bin should be sufficient to show that you did not download it intentionally, but please note that computers and drives can be searched without a warrant at US border crossings so they should not generally be taken abroad unless you are sure that everything on them is safe.

 

[juanmiller]

I am not a lawyer, and it's true that state laws may vary, but in general, US courts have ruled that child pornography must have real children involved, and that drawn or other simulated material does not count. It is currently legal under federal law to possess drawn pictures (such as manga) that are supposed to represent minors in sexual situations. Perhaps the cases Mistress Valerie heard of involved violation of state laws.

And pursuant to the point about hard drives being searched at border crossings, other countries have different laws about simulated or fictional "child porn", some of which are rather draconian. In Australia, for instance, it is not even legal to possess written fictional stories that represent minors in sexual situations, yet if you run a search and replace on all the ages and say the characters are adults, it's suddenly legal... go figure.

Anyway, if your computer stays in the US and you're not in trouble with the law, in my opinion it is vanishingly unlikely that anything would happen to you due to a few downloaded loli or shota pictures. Your computer could only be searched if the authorities already had a warrant to do so, anyway.

(This is not even getting into the fact that if someone's computer were searched and they saw a picture of a girl being tickled, out of context they might not even think or realize that it was meant to be pornographic. I think you're pretty safe, man.)

 

[Persona]

Thank you for your help on this everyone. I just wanted to know because its such a serious issue and I wanted to see if anyone (particularly some of our artists who might even draw and post some stuff) had a better understanding.

 

[MistressValerie1]

At present, US law criminalises some non-obscene art depictions of minors, although the constitutionality of this provision has not yet been settled.

http://www.firstamendmentcenter.org/speech/internet/topic.aspx?topic=virtual_childporn