Cartoon pornography

Cartoon pornography (or animated pornography) is the portrayal of illustrated or animated fictional cartoon characters in erotic or sexual situations. Cartoon pornography includes, but is not limited to, hentai, adult comix, and rule 34 of famous copyrighted characters.

Artists who draw pre-existing characters do not generally have any special notability among the cartoon pornography community; in contrast, some of the artists who draw their own characters, such as Bill Ward, Kevin J. Taylor, or John Willie, have gained a cult fan base.

The legal status of cartoon pornography varies from country to country. In addition to the normal legal status of pornography, much cartoon pornography depicts potentially minor [that is, underage] characters engaging in sexual acts. One of the primary reasons for this may be due to the many cartoons featuring major characters who are not adults. Cartoon pornography does not always have depictions of minors in sexual acts or situations, but that which does may fall under the jurisdiction laws concerning child pornography. Drawings of pre-existing characters can in theory be in violation of copyright law no matter the situation the characters are shown in.

In the United States, cartoon porn that does not contain depictions of minors generally falls under the category of speech protected by the First Amendment. For more information on general legality of pornography, see Pornography in the United States. Even in the case of depiction of minors, the US Supreme Court has held that in certain conditions, banning the depiction may violate freedom of expression.

As of the PROTECT Act of 2003, the legal status of cartoon pornography with minors has been more thoroughly addressed and refined than it was before under the previous law of the United States. The new act made any realistic appearing computer generated depiction that is indistinguishable from a depiction of an actual minor in sexual situations or engaging in sexual acts illegal under 18 U.S.C. § 2252A. Drawings, cartoons, sculptures, and paintings of minors in sexual situations that do not pass the Miller test were made illegal under 18 U.S.C. § 1466A thus creating a loop hole around the Ashcroft v. Free Speech Coalition decision.

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