As used in this division, the following terms shall have the meanings respectively ascribed to them by this section:
(1) ADULT BOOKSTORES and ADULT VIDEO STORES. A commercial establishment in which is offered for sale or rent any book, video, film, or other medium which in the aggregate constitute substantially all of its stock or inventory which depicts sexual conduct as defined herein.
(2) ADULT MOVIE HOUSE. A place where obscene "adult films" depicting sexual conduct are shown.
(3) ADULT-ONLY ENTERTAINMENT. Any commercial establishment or private club where entertainers, employees, dancers, or waiters appear nude or semi-nude.
(4) BREAST NUDITY. The showing of the post-pubertal human female breasts below a point immediately above the top of the areola.
(5) DISPLAY FOR SALE. To expose, place, exhibit, show, or in any fashion display any material for the purpose of the sale of such material to any person in a manner that a minor can physically examine or see the material.
(6) DISSEMINATE PUBLICLY. To expose, place, perform, exhibit, show or in any fashion display, in any location, public or private, any material in a manner that the material can either be readily seen and its content or character distinguished by normal unaided vision or be physically examined, by viewing or examining the material from any public place or any place to which members of the general public are invited.
(7) DISTRIBUTE. To import, export, sell, rent, lend, transfer possession of or title to, display, exhibit, show, present, provide, broadcast, transmit, retransmit, communicate by telephone, play, orally communicate or perform.
(8) EXPORT. To send or cause to be sent outside of the State of Alabama from inside the state.
(9) FOR ANY THING OF PECUNIARY VALUE. In exchange for, in return for, or for any consideration consisting of, whether wholly or partly:
a. Any money, negotiable instrument, debt, credit, chose in action, interest in wealth, or any other property whether real or personal, tangible or intangible; or
b. Any offer or agreement to pay, furnish or provide any money, negotiable instrument, debt, credit, chose in action, interest in wealth, or any other property whether real or personal, tangible or intangible.
(10) GENITAL NUDITY. The showing of the human male or female genitals or pubic area.
(11) HARMFUL TO MINORS. The term means:
a. The average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the material, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest of minors; and
b. The material depicts or describes sexual conduct, breast nudity or genital nudity, in a way which is patently offensive to prevailing standards in the adult community with respect to what is suitable for minors; and
c. A reasonable person would find that the material, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value for minors.
(12) IMPORT. To bring or cause to be brought into the State of Alabama from outside of the state.
(13) KNOWINGLY. The term means knowingly, as defined by Section 13A-2-2(2), doing an act involving a material when the person knows the nature of the material.
(14) KNOWS THE NATURE OF THE MATERIAL.
A person knows the nature of the material when any one of the following exists:
a. The person knows the nature of the material;
b. The person has reason to know the nature of the material;
c. The person has a belief or reasonable ground for belief as to the nature of the material which warrants further inspection or inquiry of the character and content of the material.
(15) MATERIAL. Any book, magazine, newspaper, printed or written matter, writing, description, picture, drawing, animation, photograph, motion picture, film, video tape, pictorial representation, depiction, image, electrical or electronic reproduction, broadcast, transmission, telephone communication, sound recording, article, device, equipment, matter, oral communication, live performance, or dance.
(16) MINOR. Any unmarried person under the age of 18 years.
(17) OBSCENE. The term means that:
a. The average person, applying contemporary community standards, would find that the material, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest; and
b. The material depicts or describes, in a patently offensive way, sexual conduct, actual or simulated, normal or perverted; and
c. A reasonable person would find that the material, taken as a whole, lacks serious literary, artistic, political or scientific value.
(18) PERSON. Any individual and, except where inappropriate, any partnership, firm, association, corporation or other legal entity.
(19) PRODUCE. Create, make, write, film, produce, reproduce, direct, or stage.
(20) RECKLESSLY. The term means recklessly, as defined by Section 13A-2-2(3), doing an act involving a material when the person knows the nature of the material.
(21) SADO-MASOCHISTIC ABUSE. The term means:
a. Flagellation or torture, in an act of sexual stimulation, by or upon a person who is nude or clad in undergarments or in a revealing or bizarre costume; or
b. The binding or physical restraining of a person who is nude or clad in undergarments or in a revealing or bizarre costume in an act of sexual stimulation.
(22) SEXUAL CONDUCT. The term means:
a. Any act of sexual intercourse, masturbation, urination, defecation, lewd exhibition of the genitals, sado-masochistic abuse, bestiality, or the fondling of the sex organs of animals; or
b. Any other physical contact with a person's unclothed genitals, pubic area, buttocks, or the breast or breasts of a female, whether alone or between members of the same or opposite sex or between a human and an animal, in an act of sexual stimulation, gratification or perversion.
(23) SEXUAL INTERCOURSE. Intercourse, whether genital-genital, oral-genital, anal-genital, or oral-anal, and whether between persons of the same or opposite sex or between a human and an animal.
(24) WHOLESALER. A person who distributes material for the purpose of resale or commercial distribution at retail.
Last modified: May 3, 2021