18 U.S.C. § 1466
Section 1466 · Engaging in the business of selling or transferring obscene matter
Amended 3 times on record
Applied in 26 court decisions — leading case United States v. Ellwest Stereo Theatres of Memphis, Inc. (1991)
Most recently applied in United States v. Arthur (October 2022)
How often courts cite this section
Court decisions citing this, by year.Markers show enactment, consequential amendments, and circuit splits over this section — watch for a citation surge after a change or a disagreement. The dip in the last several years is a data-coverage gap, not a real trend — our corpus holds fewer opinions from the most recent years, so recent citations are undercounted.
(a) Whoever is engaged in the business of producing with intent to distribute or sell, or selling or transferring obscene matter, who knowingly receives or possesses with intent to distribute any obscene book, magazine, picture, paper, film, videotape, or phonograph or other audio recording, which has been shipped or transported in interstate or foreign commerce, shall be punished by imprisonment for not more than 5 years or by a fine under this title, or both.
(b) As used in this section, the term “engaged in the business” means that the person who produces 1 sells or transfers or offers to sell or transfer obscene matter devotes time, attention, or labor to such activities, as a regular course of trade or business, with the objective of earning a profit, although it is not necessary that the person make a profit or that the production, selling or transferring or offering to sell or transfer such material be the person's sole or principal business or source of income. The offering for sale of or to transfer, at one time, two or more copies of any obscene publication, or two or more of any obscene article, or a combined total of five or more such publications and articles, shall create a rebuttable presumption that the person so offering them is “engaged in the business” as defined in this subsection.
Editorial notes U.S. Code · Office of the Law Revision Counsel
Amendments
2006—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 109–248, §506(b)(1), inserted “producing with intent to distribute or sell, or” before “selling or transferring obscene matter,”.
Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 109–248, §506(b)(3), which directed amendment of subsec. (b) by inserting “production,” before “selling or transferring or offering to sell or transfer such material.”, was executed by making the insertion before “selling or transferring or offering to sell or transfer such material be”, to reflect the probable intent of Congress.
Pub. L. 109–248, §506(b)(2), inserted “produces” before “sells or transfers or offers to sell or transfer obscene matter”.
1990—Subsec. (b). Pub. L. 101–647 substituted “this section” for “this subsection” and “this subsection” for “subsection (b)”.