Export Optical Disk that Contains Erotica Content is not Illegal Any More.　Optical Disk Act Has Been Revised and Exclude the Application of Article 235.

Manufacturers that were entrusted to manufacture optical disk contained erotica content for the purpose of export often uncovered by the customs and penalized with criminal punishment, resulting in decrease of orders, loss of business opportunity, and industries’ emigration. Therefore, the Legislative Yuan passed the revise of paragraph 1 of Article 9 of Optical Disk Act, which stated that if manufacturer have obtained evidence document of license from foreign right holder and have signed an undertaking of never violation of laws of the export country, they may manufacture optical disk which contained erotica content for the purpose of export and exclude the application of Article 235 of the Criminal Code. However, the aforesaid optical disk cannot be circulated, played, and sold in domestic market.

                               

Our country is a big exporter of optical disk, and optical disk manufactured by Taiwan accounts for 80% of the world’s optical disk and thus is an important part of development of economic. However, according to the judgment under (93) Tai-Fei-Tz No.62 rendered by the Supreme Court, despite the optical disk, which contain erotica content, are used for the purpose of export only and are not sold in domestic market, they have constituted violation of Article 235 of the Criminal Code, which stated injurious to public morals, so that the companies were uncovered when exporting the optical disk and were transferred to the police. Besides, loss orders results in impact on Taiwanese companies. In this regard, Ministry of Economic Affairs considered this regulation was made based on need of the entire economic development and prevention of emigration.

 

Currently, optical disk that exported by us are mainly export to Japan (60%), North America (25%), Hong Kong (5%), and Europe (5%), etc. (2005.5)

CYJ/CHA