As the only guy here who has been prosecuted and lost under this law i will tell you what it's about because few here know diddly squat.
Any video, film, DVD, CD, Phone Message, Internet site, featuring a MOVING IMAGE, being offered for sale or published in the UK needs a British Board of Film Control certificate. The exclusions are News, Documentaries and educational. But not in the area of adult.
So if you are selling or publishing a film of a butterfly flitting from flower to flower you need the certificate, unless you have some expert giving a commentary on the wonders of butterflies.
It has NOTHING to do with porn and was brought in because the UK definition of porn was so wishy-washy. You don?t have the license you are breaking the law. Simple.
Six years ago the BBFC came out with R18, which allows LICENSED SEX SHOPS to sell a harder version than previous, the broad line is, IF IT?S LEGAL IN THE US IT?S LEGAL IN THE UK. But you still need to get a certificate.
So you cannot sell an unlicensed film on the Internet site hosted in the UK. You can however host one in Holland and ?edit? the site in the UK. You can even be a UK based company, but it has to be served from outside the UK.
A video legal in another EEC country is legal to send to the UK and does not need a BBFC certificate.
For the purpose of the show at Olympia, they apply for a sex shop license for the duration of the show.
Now you know why I'm so happy where I am.
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For the most part we have the BBFC losing in court a few years back to thank for this. It's made the UK as a country far more tolerant towards porn from a legal standpoint.
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The BBFC have never taken anyone to court. That is left to the local council and the Trading Standards dept.
This law has nothing to do with obscenety and was brought about to make it illegal to sell an uncertificated video. They then regulate what get's a certificate. Fines are $30K per title or up to two years in jail.