Hardcore pornography or hardcore porn is pornography that features detailed depictions of sexual organs or sexual acts such as vaginal, anal, oral or manual intercourse, ejaculation, and fetish play. The term is in contrast with less-explicit softcore pornography. Hardcore pornography usually takes the form of photographs, films, and cartoons. Since the mid-1990s, hardcore pornography has become widely available on the internet, making it more accessible than ever before.
Softcore pornography or softcore porn is commercial still photography, film, or art that has a pornographic or erotic component but is less sexually graphic and intrusive than hardcore pornography, defined by a lack of visual sexual penetration. It typically contains nude or semi-nude actors involved in love scenes and is intended to be sexually arousing and aesthetically beautiful. The distinction between softcore pornography and erotic photography or art, such as Vargas girl pin-ups, is largely a matter of debate.
The Sunday Sport is a British tabloid newspaper that was founded by David Sullivan in 1986. It mainly publishes images of topless female glamour models, and is well-known for publishing sensationalised, fictionalised, and satirical content, alongside celebrity gossip and sports coverage. It has changed from including legitimate journalism throughout its history. A sister title, the Daily Sport, was published from 1991 to 2011, when it ceased publication and went online-only, under separate ownership.
Escort is a British men's adult magazine which contains softcore pornography and erotica. It is published by Paul Raymond Publications, a company that also publishes a number of similar magazines, including Club International, Mayfair, Men Only, Men's World, and Razzle. The origin of these titles lies in businessman Paul Raymond's expansion from strip club management into magazine publishing in the 1960s.
Mayfair is a British adult magazine for men. Founded in 1966, it was designed as a response to US magazines such as Playboy and Penthouse, the latter of which had recently launched in the UK. For many years, it claimed the largest distribution of any men's magazine in the UK. It is a softcore magazine, and thus is available in newsagents, although some larger retailers require a modesty bag to hide the cover.
Paul Raymond Publications is a British publisher of softcore monthly pornographic magazine titles, including Escort, Club International, Mayfair, Men Only, Men's World and Razzle. The company's lawyers scrutinise the magazine content before publication to ensure that it is likely to comply with the Obscene Publications Act 1959 since UK law does not allow hardcore R18 imagery to be sold on newsstands. The magazines are generally available in most newsagents, although some larger retailers require them to be sold in bags to protect minors from seeing the cover photographs. The magazines have also been published in digital format since 2013. They were initially available from the dedicated Paul Raymond digital newsstand, but since that closed they have been sold via the publisher's main website which contains both softcore and hardcore pornography. Blue Active Media Ltd. is the parent company.
Club International is a British softcore pornographic magazine published by Paul Raymond Publications that features pictures of nude women. It is a sister magazine of American magazine Club.
Pornographic magazines or erotic magazines, sometimes known as adult magazines or sex magazines, are magazines that contain content of an explicitly sexual nature. Publications of this kind may contain images of attractive naked subjects, as is the case in softcore pornography, and, in the usual case of hardcore pornography, depictions of masturbation, oral, manual, vaginal, or anal sex.
This is a list of topics related to pornography in the United Kingdom.
Asian Babes was a British softcore pornographic magazine which featured photographs of women of South Asian, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Vietnamese, Filipino, and Thai origin. The magazine was launched in March 1992 and initially used only Indian and other South Asian models from the United Kingdom. Later, Asian models from other countries were also included. The magazine was initially published by Northern & Shell, a newspaper and magazine publishing group owned by the businessman Richard Desmond. In 2004 Northern & Shell sold the magazine to Remnant Media, as part of a package of Northern & Shell's other pornographic titles. Remnant went into administration in 2007 and the magazine was then bought by Trojan Publishing and subsequently by Interactive Publishing. Asian Babes had ceased publication by 2012.
Fiesta was a British adult magazine featuring softcore pornography, published by Galaxy Publications Limited. It was a sister publication of Knave magazine, launched two years later.
Men's World was a British soft-core pornographic magazine founded in 1988. The final issue was Volume 24 issue 13, in December 2012. It was released every four weeks and its content mostly consisted of nude pictorials of well-known erotic and pornographic actresses. American models feature frequently, and well-known names like Aria Giovanni, Erica Campbell, Devon, and Veronika Zemanová have been cover girls in the past. British models who have been featured regularly in the magazine include Joanne Guest and Abigail Toyne.
Pornography has been dominated by a few pan-European producers and distributors, the most notable of which is the Private Media Group that successfully claimed the position previously held by Color Climax Corporation in the early 1990s. Most European countries also have local pornography producers, from Portugal to Serbia, who face varying levels of competition with international producers. The legal status of pornography varies widely in Europe; its production and distribution are illegal in countries such as Ukraine, Belarus and Bulgaria, while Hungary has liberal pornography laws.
Bizarre was a British alternative magazine published from 1997 to 2015. It was published by Dennis Publishing and was a sister publication to Fortean Times.
Club is a monthly American pornographic magazine which is a spin-off publication of the United Kingdom's Club International. Club features sexually oriented articles, video reviews, and pictorials that include hardcore pornography, masturbation, dildo usage, and lesbian sex.
Men Only is a British magazine title that originated in 1935 as a pocket-sized men's magazine. It became a standard-sized pin-up magazine in the 1950s and was relaunched in 1971 by Paul Raymond Publications as a soft-core pornographic magazine.
Color Climax Corporation ApS (CCC) is a Danish pornography producer headquartered in Copenhagen founded by the Theander brothers. It had been one of the leading producers of European pornography up until the 1990s. Since then, CCC has recessed most of its assets, but because its earlier works attract admirers of classic pornography, CCC still functions today via the Internet. Color Climax Corporation (CCC) began in 1967 with the publication of the porn magazine ColorClimax, despite pornography being illegal in Denmark until 1969.
In the United Kingdom, pornography is regulated by a variety of laws, regulations, judicial processes, and voluntary schemes. Pornographic material generally has to be assessed by regulators or courts to determine its legality. British censorship laws with regard to pornography have often been some of the most restrictive in Western Europe.
The production and distribution of pornography in Bulgaria is illegal. Pornography films and online distribution of sexual content are illegal. Bulgaria lacks pornographic production companies. However, people are allowed to watch and download pornographic videos, they just cannot sell or create pornography. Accessing, possessing or storing pornographic materials is not illegal, with the exception of child pornography.
