Legal Issues in Kink Writing

[sxPlasticity]

Wanted to further this thread...
https://forum.literotica.com/threads/is-erotica-sexual-harassment.1609092/
but with a somewhat different twist...

That thread got me thinking about the laws behind writing kink content... a more general topic...

So what I was wondering is... are there legal limits to what a kink story can exposit?
Specifically, I mean across literary genres...

That would seem to make sense for various reasons, although I don't know what such rules would be exactly...

One extreme example would be something like the difference between a snuff story and a kinky porn story... Whether it is true or not, I don't know,... but I don't think a kink flick could be turned into a snuff story... because that could motivate people to try that kind of stuff...

I'm actually saying I don't even know... Maybe I am wrong... We see a lot of stuff in the media today, sci-fi, horror, action, trucrime, documentaries, etc... and they expose all sorts of situations... But kink and porn seem to have different limits, or at least no one thinks to use stuff from those other genres...

I just wondered what any reasons might be?

 

[PaxNurgle]

I would assume that, well, the key words here are "Consenting" and "Adults." As long as both of these things apply, then I would expect there won't be too many issues as long as there is, obviously, no snuff, mutiliation, or extreme torture.

 

[sxPlasticity]

Between two consenting adults seems... well, I don't think it would work...

Two reasons... Based upon the only two possible case scenarios...

IRL... You could not have two consenting adults commit to a murder, where one kills the other, even if that person wanted to die...

There was actually the case of a cannibal who wanted to eat someone, and he wrote an ad, and a guy replied consenting to it... It was in Germany, I think... Anyway, they met consensually, and, yes, the one guy killed the other and ate him, and then the cannibal guy got arrested for it...

So no... IRL consent to a scene like that would not be legal or even realistic... gross...

The only other scenario would be if the story was between an author and their audience...

That would be more realistic, but I think the laws might be aimed at protecting the general public, who might not be interested in kink, porn or dark films at all...

Throughout the 90's I think there may have been some kind of restrictions on bdsm flicks where (perhaps due to the consensual laws) the sub could not resist... Or - in other words - a slave could not say "no" or "let me go" or "stop, stop, your hurting me..."

What I am saying is... That actually makes it BORING, if you think about it...

It completely reduces the tension in the scene...

 

[sxPlasticity]

btw, that doesn't mean the actors or actresses were not consenting to make the movies...

It's just - if they were not allowed to say "no" , even while acting, it's like... There seems to be something wrong with it...

It really does reduce the amount of conflict in writing drama when everyone just agrees...

There's no "damsel in distress" effect to such writing... It's more like... "just fuck me running..."...

 

[Kumquatqueen]

In text, people can legally write anything in most countries. Publishers may not be allowed to print it (eg in the UK until the Lady Chatterley Trial in the late 60s). Websites may be even more reluctant to host certain stories because of the attention they bring (eg Lit deciding not to host stories where under-18s get to do anything sexual, no bestiality, no erotic depictions of rape, torture or murder - that's purely their policy).

That's text. Pictures and video are held to different standards depending on jurisdiction, with some permitting certain porn and depictions of violence but banning 'extreme porn'. At the risk of self-promotion, I wrote a legal drama on Lit about the efforts of the UK Government to legislate to ban kinky porn - Image Nine Point Four, going into a lot of the arguments for and against, solely to justify a caning scene set in the UK Supreme Court. As you do.

 

[IrisAlthea]

There was actually the case of a cannibal who wanted to eat someone, and he wrote an ad, and a guy replied consenting to it... It was in Germany, I think... Anyway, they met consensually, and, yes, the one guy killed the other and ate him, and then the cannibal guy got arrested for it...

Armin Meiwes
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armin_Meiwes

Between two consenting adults seems... well, I don't think it would work...

It is a fuzzy area.

As for the story writing -as @Kumquatqueen wrote, laws differ in different jurisdictions and writing it and publishing are not the same.
Pictures and moving pictures and text are not treated the same, usually.

When it comes to the question what you legally can consent to in real life, there is also a lot of morality playing into it.

For some it seems (to varying degrees and depending on the sport and gender, to further confuse it) fine to agree to getting beat up as long as it is called a sport, but not if it is sexual and the law is usually not above that kind of thinking.

For that reason, there is a lot of self-cencorship and rules made in the industry, to avoid even entering the grey area and sometimes to avoid a certain kind of clientele.

We see a lot of stuff in the media today, sci-fi, horror, action, trucrime, documentaries, etc... and they expose all sorts of situations... But kink and porn seem to have different limits, or at least no one thinks to use stuff from those other genres...

I think the reason for this is in big part, trying to avoid that fuzzy area.
When it is sci-fi, true-crime, crime and horror, people can safely tell themselves that they are horrified by the violence and not excited.
It’s just easier to claim moral high ground, if you have other arguments than “It makes people hard/wet and they pay for that.”

I also think it’s because mixing those themes would turn away both the people who need to tell themselves that they aren’t titillated but just there for the story and those who are allergic to plot in their porn.

If you mix genres you risk losing the lovers of both.
Then it doesn’t help that the readers/viewers you win, are the most loyal ones you could imagine.
(Yes, I’m a registered Browncoat.)

 

[sxPlasticity]

In text, people can legally write anything in most countries. Publishers may not be allowed to print it (eg in the UK until the Lady Chatterley Trial in the late 60s). Websites may be even more reluctant to host certain stories because of the attention they bring (eg Lit deciding not to host stories where under-18s get to do anything sexual, no bestiality, no erotic depictions of rape, torture or murder - that's purely their policy).

I would ask where any sets of such laws (text and/or multimedia) are explicitly stated, but I see you are from the UK, whereas I am in America.

Any direct reference would be interesting, though.

At the risk of self-promotion, I wrote a legal drama on Lit about the efforts of the UK Government to legislate to ban kinky porn - Image Nine Point Four, going into a lot of the arguments for and against, solely to justify a caning scene set in the UK Supreme Court. As you do.

Am interested in reading INPF, but it is a bit long, and I might have some questions. Is there a way to get it in single file form? And are you open to private conversation?

 

[lustychimera]

I would ask where any sets of such laws (text and/or multimedia) are explicitly stated, but I see you are from the UK, whereas I am in America.

Any direct reference would be interesting, though.

Obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment. Obscenity is a narrow category of unprotected expression that meets all of the following criteria: (a) the average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; (b) the work depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the applicable state law; and (c) the work, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value. https://uwm.edu/free-speech-rights-...row category,a patently offensive way, sexual

afaik, out of million and millions of stories, there's only been a few dozen cases where someone has been tried in the US for written obscenity. For instance, there was a guy in NY who wrote a grossly obscene pedo torture rape porn, but the case was dropped.

It's not something you have to worry about in the US. It's so easy to argue that your story has value beyond the smut. And there haven't been any successful written obscenity charges since at least 1973, and the ones that were attempted to prosecute revolved around pedophillia.

 

[Kumquatqueen]

I would ask where any sets of such laws (text and/or multimedia) are explicitly stated, but I see you are from the UK, whereas I am in America.

Any direct reference would be interesting, though.


Am interested in reading INPF, but it is a bit long, and I might have some questions. Is there a way to get it in single file form? And are you open to private conversation?

For the UK, you'd want to start with the Obscene Publications Act 1857 (as amended rather frequently until 2019). Wikipedia can give you a run-down.

If you can't download a story off Lit, PM me and I can email you. Happy to discuss legislation and effects, but not anything personal. And no dick pics, ta.

 

[lc69hunter]

Wanted to further this thread...
https://forum.literotica.com/threads/is-erotica-sexual-harassment.1609092/
but with a somewhat different twist...

That thread got me thinking about the laws behind writing kink content... a more general topic...

So what I was wondering is... are there legal limits to what a kink story can exposit?
Specifically, I mean across literary genres...

That would seem to make sense for various reasons, although I don't know what such rules would be exactly...

One extreme example would be something like the difference between a snuff story and a kinky porn story... Whether it is true or not, I don't know,... but I don't think a kink flick could be turned into a snuff story... because that could motivate people to try that kind of stuff...

I'm actually saying I don't even know... Maybe I am wrong... We see a lot of stuff in the media today, sci-fi, horror, action, trucrime, documentaries, etc... and they expose all sorts of situations... But kink and porn seem to have different limits, or at least no one thinks to use stuff from those other genres...

I just wondered what any reasons might be?

@sfor has written a seriously deep dark series, with some serious shit. The first one is the only one still on the site, as LIT decided the rest were too much for here. The rest are still available on another website, and have a lot of sick stuff, but erotic as hell, as she is a pain slut and wants it.