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United States · Bill · HR

H.R. 3785 (101st)

Pornography Victims Compensation Act of 1989

referredUnited States· United States Congress· EN

Introduced

20 November 1989

Last action

Status

Referred to the Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Administration of Justice.

Sponsors

Subjects

Discovery layer

Source updated

26 August 2025

Summary

Pornography Victims' Compensation Act of 1989 - Creates a cause of action against a producer, distributor, exhibitor, or seller of sexually explicit material by a victim of a rape, sexual assault, or sexual crime, or by the estate, guardian, or survivors of any such victim. Conditions the recovery of damages on proof by a preponderance of the evidence that: (1) the victim was a victim of a rape, sexual assault, or a sexual crime; (2) the material is obscene, in the case of sex crimes, is sexually explicit and violent, or in the case of sex crimes against minors, depicts minors participating in sexually explicit activity and was a proximate cause of the offense; and (3) the defendant is a producer or distributor of the material or exhibited or sold it to the sexual offender and should have known that the material was obscene, in the case of sex crimes, is sexually explicit and violent, or, in the case of sex crimes against minors, depicts minors participating in sexually explicit activity. Sets forth criteria by which the finder of fact may reasonably infer that such material was a proximate cause of the offense, including unusual similarities between the acts depicted and the actual offense, testimony of the offender, and testimony of experts who have examined the offender that such material influenced or incited the commission of the offense. Authorizes the award of damages for economic loss, compensation for pain and suffering, reasonable attorney's fees, and costs to prevailing plaintiffs. Sets a statute of limitations of six years from the date the right of action first accrued or, in the case of a legal disability, not later than three years after the termination of such disability.

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Documents

2 official files

Introduced in House (text)

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