SSHB 487: "An Act relating to the sale, display, or distribution of material harmful to minors at places where minors are present or allowed to be present and where minors are able to view such material; and prohibiting the sale or display of certain audio recordings, phonograph records, magnetic tapes, compact discs, or videotapes, without warning labels and opaque wrappings."
00SPONSOR SUBSTITUTE FOR HOUSE BILL NO. 487 01 "An Act relating to the sale, display, or distribution of material harmful to 02 minors at places where minors are present or allowed to be present and where 03 minors are able to view such material; and prohibiting the sale or display of 04 certain audio recordings, phonograph records, magnetic tapes, compact discs, or 05 videotapes, without warning labels and opaque wrappings." 06 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA: 07 * Section 1. AS 11.61 is amended by adding new sections to read: 08 Sec. 11.61.127. SALE, DISPLAY, OR DISTRIBUTION OF MATERIAL 09 HARMFUL TO MINORS. (a) A person commits the crime of sale, display, or 10 distribution of material harmful to minors if the person knowingly sells, displays, or 11 distributes any material, including the covers and packaging of the material, but not 12 including audio recordings, music video recordings, or rated video recordings, that is 13 harmful to minors in any place where minors are present or are allowed to be present 14 and where minors are able to view such material unless each item of the material is
01 sealed in an opaque wrapper. 02 (b) In this section, the requirement of an opaque wrapper shall be satisfied if 03 the portions of the covers or packaging of the material that visually depict material 04 harmful to minors are blocked with the opaque wrapper and the wrapper is sealed. 05 (c) In this section, 06 (1) "material harmful to minors" means a description or representation, 07 in any form, of nudity, sexual conduct, or sexual excitement when it 08 (A) predominately appeals to the prurient, shameful, or morbid 09 interest of minors in sex; 10 (B) is patently offensive to contemporary standards in the adult 11 community as a whole with respect to what is suitable sexual material for 12 minors; and 13 (C) taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or 14 scientific value for minors; 15 (2) "music video recording" means a tape or other recorded visual 16 depiction of a song or songs that is not voluntarily rated by the Classification and 17 Rating Administration (CARA); 18 (3) "rated video recording" means a tape or other recorded visual 19 depiction that is voluntarily rated by the Classification and Rating Administration 20 (CARA). 21 (d) Except as provided in (e) of this section, sale or display of material 22 harmful to minors is a class B misdemeanor. 23 (e) A person convicted under this section is guilty of a class A misdemeanor 24 if the person has previously been convicted of a violation of this section. 25 Sec. 11.61.128. UNLAWFUL SALE OR DISPLAY OF AUDIO OR MUSIC 26 VIDEO RECORDING. (a) A person commits the crime of unlawful sale of an audio 27 recording or music video recording if the person knowingly sells or offers to sell an 28 audio recording, phonograph record, magnetic tape, compact disc, or music video 29 recording that contains lyrics that include or are descriptive of material harmful to 30 minors, unless the cover of the recording, record, tape, or disc contains a warning label 31 that the lyrics contain material harmful to minors.
01 (b) A person commits the crime of unlawful display of an audio recording or 02 music video recording if the person knowingly displays an audio recording, 03 phonograph record, magnetic tape, compact disc, or music video recording, whose 04 packaging uses words, symbols, or pictures that include or describe material harmful 05 to minors unless the recording is sealed in an opaque wrapping. 06 (c) In this section, the requirement of a warning label shall be satisfied if the 07 label is affixed to the front cover, beneath any cellophane or other clear wrapping 08 material or above any opaque wrapping material, of the audio recording, phonograph 09 record, magnetic tape, compact disc, or music video recording and for (1) cassette 10 tapes and compact discs or other recordings the same size or smaller than cassette 11 tapes or compact discs, is printed with black letters of eight point type or larger, except 12 that the words "WARNING" and "PARENTAL ADVISORY" shall be of 10 point type 13 or larger on a fluorescent yellow background; or (2) all other audio or music video 14 recordings larger than cassette tapes or compact discs, is printed with black letters of 15 12 point type or larger on a fluorescent yellow background, except that the words 16 "WARNING" and "PARENTAL ADVISORY" shall be printed in letters which are of 17 48 point type or larger, and the label reads substantially as follows: 18 "WARNING: 19 May contain explicit lyrics that include or describe material 20 harmful to minors. 21 PARENTAL ADVISORY". 22 (d) In this section, the requirement of an opaque wrapper is satisfied if the 23 portions of the packaging of the audio recording, phonograph record, magnetic tape, 24 compact disc, or music video recording that use words, symbols, or pictures that 25 include or describe material harmful to minors are blocked with an opaque wrapper 26 and the wrapper is sealed. 27 (e) In a prosecution under this section, each day that a violation occurs and 28 each audio recording, phonograph record, magnetic tape, compact disc, or music video 29 recording that is found in violation of this section is a separate offense. 30 (f) In this section, 31 (1) "material harmful to minors" means a
01 (A) description or representation, in any form, of nudity, sexual 02 conduct, or sexual excitement when it 03 (i) predominately appeals to the prurient, shameful, or 04 morbid interest of minors in sex; 05 (ii) is patently offensive to contemporary standards in 06 the adult community as a whole with respect to what is suitable sexual 07 material for minors; and 08 (iii) taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, 09 political, or scientific value for minors; or 10 (B) graphic description, representation of, or incitement to 11 violent behavior that if acted out would constitute felonious behavior that is 12 morally repugnant to the community as a whole; 13 (2) "music video recording" has the meaning given in AS 11.61.127. 14 (g) Except as provided in (h) of this section, a violation of (a) or (b) of this 15 section is a class B misdemeanor. 16 (h) A person convicted under this section is guilty of a class A misdemeanor 17 if the person has previously been convicted of a violation of this section.