Books

Germany Bans Sexy E-Books Before 10 P.M.

by Crystal Paul

Remember when you used to crawl under the covers with a flashlight so you wouldn’t get caught reading after bedtime? Well, it's now actually illegal to buy “adult-themed” books before 10 p.m. in Germany — so you'll definitely need that flashlight. That’s right… a curfew on books!

According to The Independent, the Youth Media Protection Act (Jugendmedienschutz-Staatsvertrag) was first enforced in 2002 in order to restrict adult movies from being shown during the day. But the German Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons (Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien) — yeah, that's a mouthful in both languages — is now extending the law to include e-books.

Tech Times writes that the change comes after a lawsuit against erotica e-book Schlauchgelüste (Pantyhose Cravings) by Johanna Kamermans, which complained that the book was too easy for children to get their hands on. But, according to BBC, book industry professionals in Germany essentially find this ridiculous. A legal representative of the German Publishers and Booksellers Association Jessica Sanger told BBC that "a time lock doesn't seem to make a lot of sense to us as kids can find ways to circumvent that. A system that requires proof of age is harder to circumvent and that is the way we see things going."

Still, readers or booksellers who break the law are looking at a $56,000 fine. I don’t care how popular Grey is: nobody wants to cough up 50 grand for erotica — at least no one I know. But then again, maybe knowing that it's technically naughty to buy these books during the day will just make the read that much naughtier...

Images: Fotolia; Giphy