HB 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."
00HOUSE 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 or video recordings, that is harmful to minors in any place where 13 minors are present or are allowed to be present and where minors are able to view 14 such material unless each item of the material is sealed in an opaque wrapper.
01 (b) In this section, the requirement of an opaque wrapper shall be satisfied if 02 the portions of the covers or packaging of the material that visually depict material 03 harmful to minors are blocked with the opaque wrapper and the wrapper is sealed. 04 (c) In this section, "material harmful to minors" means a description or 05 representation, in any form, of nudity, sexual conduct, or sexual excitement when it 06 (1) predominately appeals to the prurient, shameful, or morbid interest 07 of minors in sex; 08 (2) is patently offensive to contemporary standards in the adult 09 community as a whole with respect to what is suitable sexual material for minors; and 10 (3) taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or 11 scientific value for minors. 12 (d) Sale or display of material harmful to minors is a class B misdemeanor. 13 Sec. 11.61.128. UNLAWFUL SALE OR DISPLAY OF AUDIO OR VIDEO 14 RECORDING. (a) A person commits the crime of unlawful sale of audio or video 15 recording if the person knowingly sells or offers to sell an audio recording, 16 phonograph record, magnetic tape, compact disc, or videotape that contains lyrics that 17 include or are descriptive of material harmful to minors, unless the cover of such 18 recording, record, tape, or disc contains a warning label that the lyrics contain material 19 harmful to minors. 20 (b) A person commits the crime of unlawful display of audio or video 21 recording if the person knowingly displays an audio recording, phonograph record, 22 magnetic tape, compact disc, or videotape, whose packaging uses words, symbols, or 23 pictures that include or describe material harmful to minors unless the recording is 24 sealed in an opaque wrapping. 25 (c) In this section, the requirement of a warning label shall be satisfied if the 26 label is affixed to the front cover, beneath any cellophane or other clear wrapping 27 material or above any opaque wrapping material, of the audio recording, phonograph 28 record, magnetic tape, compact disc, or videotape and for (1) cassette tapes and 29 compact discs or video recordings the same size or smaller than cassette tapes or 30 compact discs, is printed with black letters of eight point type or larger, except that the 31 words "WARNING" and "PARENTAL ADVISORY" shall be of 10 point type or
01 larger on a fluorescent yellow background; or (2) all other audio recordings larger than 02 cassette tapes or compact discs, is printed with black letters of 12 point type or larger 03 on a fluorescent yellow background, except that the words "WARNING" and 04 "PARENTAL ADVISORY" shall be printed in letters which are of 48 point type or 05 larger, and the label reads substantially as follows: 06 "WARNING: 07 May contain explicit lyrics that include or describe material 08 harmful to minors. 09 PARENTAL ADVISORY". 10 (d) In this section, the requirement of an opaque wrapper is satisfied if the 11 portions of the packaging of the audio recording, phonograph record, magnetic tape, 12 compact disc, or videotape that describe, advocate, or encourage the conduct described 13 in (b) of this section are blocked with an opaque wrapper and the wrapper is sealed. 14 (e) In a prosecution under this section, each day that a violation occurs and 15 each audio recording, phonograph record, magnetic tape, compact disc, or videotape 16 that is found in violation of this section is a separate offense. 17 (f) In this section, "material harmful to minors" has the meaning given in 18 AS 11.61.127. 19 (g) Except as provided in (h) of this section, a violation of (a) or (b) of this 20 section is a class B misdemeanor. 21 (h) A person convicted under this section is guilty of a class A misdemeanor 22 if the person has previously been convicted of a violation of this section.