Sexually Immature Characters Rule
From VCLWiki
Translation: English Español Français Português Depictions of sexually immature characters in any sexual situation are not permitted on the VCL
We define 'sexually immature' as:
- Clearly underdeveloped sexual characteristics for the species being represented, either by comparison to other characters in the depiction, or other 'well known' characters.
- This definition has a 'narrow focus', meaning we will accept any reasonable explanation to exclude a character from this definition.
And 'sexual situation' as:
- Character is portraying any kind of sexual behaviour.
- Character is being portrayed in a provocative manner, such as their sexual characteristics being presented to the viewer, or any object in the drawing.
- Any other character in the drawing is displaying sexual behaviour, such as erections or sexual actions.
- This definition has a 'wide focus', meaning we will accept any reasonable explanation to include a situation in this definition.
[edit] History
Since March 2003, the VCL has had a similar policy in place as 'provisional'. In January 2005, Ch'marr decided to ratify it, as it was being held as provisional for so long, and was causing confusion to those joining and using the VCL. The rule was put in place due to a highly-inflammatory discussion on the VCL Forum revolving around one artist's offer to draw such works for a fee. Many felt that this was effectively soliciting child pornography, and asked the VCL Administration to prohibit it. Initially Ch'marr declined, citing the VCL's wish to maintain its 'no censorship' policy. However, it was soon obvious that a large VCL population regarded this as been 'just too extreme' and threatened to leave VCL if the material was not prohibited. In fact, a few artists did leave at the time. One of the VCL's Goals is to be as useful as possible to as many people as possible. Ch'marr weighed up the 'no censorship' policy with this, and decided that the right course was to change VCL's policy, at least provisionally, with the intention of re-examining the issue later. Perhaps when a Classification and Filtering tool is in place. It's been two years with the provisional policy in place, no Classification and Filtering for one reason or another, and no one's really complaining about not being able to upload such material. However, having the rule absent from the Rules pages, and only listed as provisional in the 'artist announcements' display, was causing confusion and uncertainty. Ch'marr decided to simply ratify the rule and be done with it, for now.
[edit] Law
US law does not prohibit 'artistic' depictions of child pornography, even photo-realistic depictions, on the basis that no actual child was involved in the creation of the depiction. A rule prohibiting this in the Child Pornography Prevention Act (CPPA) of 1996 was deemed unconstituional ultimately by the Ninth Circuit Court. A new act, the CPPA 2000, and later the Child Obscenity and Pornography Prevention Act of 2002 (not the same as the other COPPA) was codified to work around the constitutional issues, but was never passed (need confirmation on this). However, both acts specifically excluded artistic renderings, which clearly applies all material on the VCL. In 2002, HR 4623 passes, making amendments to various status to include 'virtual child porn' in prohibited materials. However, it still expressly excludes "drawings, cartoons, sculptures, or paintings depicting minors or adults."
So, it is safe to say that all material on the VCL, even if borderline to our rules, is not illegal under US law.
VCL does not have sufficient legal information for other countries.
