Originally Posted by captainkremmen:
“Not in the very early days prior to the Video Recordings Act. 1984. Prior to then it was a free for all and porn, uncut horror films etc. were available from pretty much every video shop.”
It was not a free for all at all with regards to porn.
Hardcore was still illegal .
Hardcore porn was never openly sold because it was immediately available for seizure under the Obscene Publications Act whereas nobody knew whether things like I Spit On Your Grave could be prosecuted.
My local video shop had hardcore US movies copied onto tapes but they were strictly under the counter.
Apart from a few magazine ads nobody tried to pass off hardcore porn as legal because it was no more legal on video than it was legal in print.
Any hardcore would have been seized by the police without warning.
The reason the nasties got away with it is because nobody knew whether they were illegal or not which is why it took OPA prosecutions to make it official.
There was never any doubt about hardcore porn.
Some of the legitimate soft porn releases before the VRA did have some content that the VRA banned but no legit releases tried to get away with any genuine hardcore content.
Magazine ads were selling super 8mm films copied to tape and the Taboo label also sold some shorts copied to tape for a while but not for long as they knew they were illegal.
Once the video nasties prosecutions began the porn that was available was swiftly removed