The content may not be illegal to possess, but if it's obscene, then it can be illegal to sell it, produce it with the intention of selling it, transport it, distribute it, and so on.

Could it really? I was under the impression that unless you incite someone to commit crimes (or confess to crimes), the story would be covered under "art" and therefore protected. It's just text after all. Where does the limit for "obscene" go?

It's very funny to imagine picking up a romance novel and making it illegal by scrawling "by the way the girl was actually 16 the whole time" on the inside of the back cover.

In the U.S., it's called the Miller test: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miller_test

Wow, I had no idea, that sounds really bad. The whole book banning debacle now makes sense and seems legal. That test seems to me to give way for courts to basically judge however they want, as all those three criteria are very subjective.

Also first time I hear about "patently offensive" and now I'm laughing. Thanks!

It wouldn't be illegal in the US, but it would be in many other countries.

It’s called thoughtcrime

https://www.quora.com/Do-thought-crimes-exist-in-U-S-law

Miller v California has been undermined so severely by subsequent decisions that it basically doesn't apply anymore.

Quora is quite unhelpful in any context.