[HPFGU-Movie] Re: Harry Potter ditches the glasses and all his clothes

[Shaun Hately]

On 3 Aug 2006 at 13:42, artsylynda at aol.com wrote:

> Dan is 17 now, legally an adult in every way, if I understand the  Brit law 
> correctly.  At 16, it was legal for him to have sex or marry (he  said so 
> himself in an interview).  At 17, they're grown up,  supposedly.

I have spoken to an acquaintance who is a British lawyer (actually a QC) and this is what he 
had to say about this.

At 17, Daniel Radcliffe is still legally a minor. While a 17 year old has many legal rights, 
including some rights that can be considered adult rights, in a strict sense he is still a child, 
and there are still things he is not allowed to do. This would include participating in any 
indecent production, and anyone responsible for such a production would be in violation of 
the law under section 50 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003 - a 17 year old cannot participate 
in the production of pornography, even though they may be completely legally able to 
participate in the activities that appear in the pornographic production if no such production 
was taking place.

But it is important to note that under British law, the mere act of a minor appearing nude does 
not constitute pornography. To be pornographic, the production would have to be indecent 
and nudity is not inherently indecent.

Indecency is not precisely defined in British law - the most relevant standard in this case 
would probably be the "recognised standards of propriety" stated in R v Stamford 1972 - it's 
quite a complex issue, but suffice to say, it is extremely unlikely that a well regarded play 
such as Equus would be ruled to be indecent if it was simply being performed in the same 
way it is normally performed.

This is not intended as legal advice, merely a basic opinion.

Yours Without Wax, Dreadnought
Shaun Hately | www.alphalink.com.au/~drednort/thelab.html
(ISTJ)       | drednort at alphalink.com.au | ICQ: 6898200 
"You know the very powerful and the very stupid have one
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facts. They alter the facts to fit the views. Which can be 
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