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Negroe Hypothecary Substitute @ Wikipedia 2007 Negroe Hypothecary Substitute 19:41, 8 April 2007 (UTC)

Outline
The Mutzenbacher Decision - Federal Constitutional Court of Germany Decision BVerfGE 83, 130, November 27 1990

0. Abstact

1. Preface

2. The History

3. The Decision

4. Further Reading

0.

"Pornography and Art are not Mutually Exclusive"

Negroe Hypothecary Substitute 19:42, 8 April 2007 (UTC)

The Mutzenbacher Decision
The Mutzenbacher Decision

- Federal Constitutional Court of Germany Decision BVerfGE 83, 130, November 27 1990

0. Abstact

1. Preface

2. The History

3. The Decision

4. Further Reading

0.

"Pornography and Art are not Mutually Exclusive"

1.

In Germany there is a process known as Indizierung (indexing). The "Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien's" (BPjM) ("Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons") coallates books, movies, video games and music that could be harmful to young people because they contain violence, pornography, nazism, hate speech or similar dangerous content. The items are placed on the "Liste jugendgefährdender Medien" ("list of youth-endangering media"). Items that are "indexed" (placed on the list) cannot be bought by young people. When an item is placed on the list it is not allowed to be sold at regular bookstores or retailers that young people have access to, nor is it allowed to be advertised or sold through mail order. An item that is placed on the list becomes very difficult for adults to access as a result of these restrictions. The issue underlying the The Mutzenbacher Decision was not whether the book was legal for adults to buy sell own and read, that was never disputed. The case concerned whether the intrinsic merit of the book as a work of art superceded the potential harm it's controversial contents could have on the impressionable minds of minors and whether or not it should be "indexed". Any piece of media that is "indexed" becomes very difficult even for adults to obtain, and effectivly drops out of the commercial market place. However, an important distinction needs to made. A piece of media that has been "indexed" has not been banned censored or denied to Adult consumers.

2.

In 1960's two seperate publishing houses made reprints of the 1906 original JM. In 1965 Dehli Publishers of Copenhagen, Denmark published a two volume edition, and in 1969 the German publisher Rogner and Bernhard printed another edition. The "Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien's" (BPjM) ("Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons") placed JM on it's "Liste jugendgefährdender Medien" ("list of youth-endangering media"), commonly called "the index", after two criminal courts declared the pornographic contents of book obscene. The BPJM maintained that the book was pornographic and dangerous to minors because it contained expllicit descriptions of sexual promiscuity, child prostitution, and incest as it's exlusive subject matter, and promoted these activities as positive, insigificant, and even humorous behaivors in a manner devoid of any artistic value. The BPjM stated that the contents of the book justified it being placed on the "list of youth-endangering media" so that it's availability to minors would be restricted. In 1978 a thrid published house attempted to issue a new version of JM that included a foreword and omitted the "glossary of Viennese Prostitution Terms" from the original 1906 version. The BPjM again placed JM on it's "list of youth-endangering media" and the Rowohlt Publishing house filed an appeal with The Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court of Germany) on the grounds that JM was a work of art that minors should not be restricted from reading.

3.

On 27 November 1990 The Bundesverfassungsgericht (Federal Constitutional Court of Germany made what is now known as "The Mutzenbacher Decision". The Court prefaced their verdict by refrerring to two other seminal freedom of expression cases from previous German Case Law, the Mephisto decision(http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mephisto-Entscheidung) and the Anachronistischer Decision(http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anachronistischer_Zug). The court ruled that under German Grundgesetz (Consitutional Law) of Kunstfreiheit (Freedom of art) the novel JM was both pornography and art, and that the former is not neccesary and sufficient to deny the latter.  In plain english, even though the contents of JM are pornographic they are still considered art and can not be restricted in readership.  The court's ruling forced the BPjM to remove JM from it's "list of youth-endangering media" and it released a statement wherein it called JM an exception to it's normal policy in the name of Kunstfreiheit (Freedom of art) which can viewed at the Official BPjM website here(German). As such, JM is no longer on the BPjM's "list of youth-endangering media" and is saleable to Germans without age restriction.

4.

English Language Translation of the German Case Law

http://www.ucl.ac.uk/laws/global_law/german-cases/cases_bverg.shtml?27nov1990 &

http://www.utexas.edu/law/academics/centers/transnational/work/german-cases/cases_bverg.shtml?27nov1990

German Case Law of The Mutzenbacher Decision Mutzenbacher-Entscheidung des Bundesverfassungsgerichts (BVerfGE 83, 130)

http://www.oefre.unibe.ch/law/dfr/bv083130.html

The Mutzenbacher Decision on Wikipedia Germany

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mutzenbacher-Entscheidung

Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons statement concerning the Mutzenbacher Decision (German) -

http://www.bundespruefstelle.de/bpjm/Jugendmedienschutz/Indizierungsverfahren/ausnahmetatbestaende,did=33008.html

Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons Policy Page in English -

http://www.bundespruefstelle.de/bpjm/information-in-english.html

Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons on Wikipedia Germany -

Includes a list of the most popular restriced games movies comics books and music not listed on the english wikipedia listing.

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bundespr%C3%BCfstelle_f%C3%BCr_jugendgef%C3%A4hrdende_Schriften

Huge List of Current and Historical Forbidden & Restricted Media in Germany (including JM) on Wikipedia Germany -

http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Verbotene_oder_indizierte_Medien

"Pornography and Art are not Mutually Exclusive"
Negroe Hypothecary Substitute 19:50, 8 April 2007 (UTC)

Salten's Ownership
was attributed by the librarians at the University Library in Vienna to Felix Salten or Arthur Schnitzler. Salten was subsequently designated as the sole author.Negroe Hypothecary Substitute 19:51, 8 April 2007 (UTC)