Since 1857, a series of obscenity laws known as the Obscene Publications Acts have governed what can be published in England and Wales. The classic definition of criminal obscenity is if it "tends to deprave and corrupt," stated in 1868 by John Duke Coleridge, 1st Baron Coleridge.
Read more about Obscene Publications Acts: Timeline of Legislation, Key Cases Under The Obscene Publications Act
Famous quotes containing the words obscene, publications and/or acts:
“The cats will be glad; the fathers feel justified; the mothers
relieved.
The sons and husbands will no longer need to pay the bills.
Childhoods will be put away, the obscene nightmare abated.”
—Louise Bogan (1897–1970)
“Dr. Calder [a Unitarian minister] said of Dr. [Samuel] Johnson on the publications of Boswell and Mrs. Piozzi, that he was like Actaeon, torn to pieces by his own pack.”
—Horace Walpole (1717–1797)
“Life is too short to be little. Man is never so manly as when he feels deeply, acts boldly, and expresses himself with frankness and with fervour.”
—Benjamin Disraeli (1804–1881)