Local comic-book publishers asked Taipei City councilors yesterday to go easy in passing rules that would regulate the sale of comic books and pornographic publications.
"Though we favor regulating pornographic and violent publications, we think the rules should apply to all publications instead of just comic books," said Yang Chin-shih (楊進士), chairman of the Art Cartoonist Development Interchange.
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
"It would be discrimination if it's decreed that just comic books should be regulated," Yang said.
"It's not fair to think that all comic books are pornographic and violent."
About 80 million publications were sold in Taiwan last year, of which about 60 percent were comic books. Of that amount, an estimated 10 percent contain pornography and violence.
Yang made the remarks yesterday at a public hearing organized by New Party City Councilor Lee Ching-yuan (
A bill put forth by the city's Department of Information that limits the sale of comics passed its first reading during the council's last session. The council is scheduled to review the bill again when it convenes on Aug. 20.
If the bill passes, Taipei City would become the first local government mandating a ratings system for publications since Taiwan's Publication Law was abolished in 1999.
Yang, who is also a cartoonist, said the city should give local illustrators a chance to survive.
"I believe that most Taiwanese cartoonists know what the limits are," Yang said. "Unfortunately, their reputation has long been tarnished by international comic books, the contents of which are usually pornographic and violent.
An estimated 95 percent of comic books available on the market are from Japan and Hong Kong.
Fang Wan-nan (
The city's rules propose that the ratings label be ten percent of the size of a publication's cover. Fang said the size should be cut to two percent.
"A huge red label on the cover is not only unsightly but also detrimental to sales," Fang said.
Hsu Wen-pin (許文彬), Publication Appraisal Foundation director, said that it wasn't necessary to label "general-rated" publications as proposed by the bill.
"It would be one hell of a job to post general-rated stickers on each and every book," Hsu said, noting that a publishing company typically has an average of 20 million books in stock, while book rental stores have on average 25,000 books.
Hsu also asked the city government to give publishers and comic book rental stores six months to put labels on restricted publications released before the new rules take effect.
Under the proposed bill, publishers and comic-book rental stores would be given six months to label restricted and general-audience comic books and pornographic publications released before the law takes effect.
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