Erotic Music Law HB 2554

From Censorpedia

Date: 1992

Region: North America

Subject: Explicit Sexuality

Medium: Music , Legislation



Confronting Bodies: Washington State Legislature, Governor Booth Gardner,

Dates of Action: 1992

Location: Washington state

Description of Artwork: Recordings deemed "erotic" by a judge in one locality.

The Incident: The law, which extended the state's already existing "harmful to minors" law to cover sound recordings, forced record stores around the state to place "adults only" labels on recordings which were deemed "erotic." Anyone who sold a labeled recording to a minor could have been fined or jailed.

Results of Incident: Four months after it took effect, Washington state's law repealed in October, 1992 by a Superior Court Judge in Seattle.

Source: ACLU Arts Censorship Project Newsletter, Fall 1992 and More Information