Lyombe Eko carries out an historical and cultural survey of the regulation of visual depictions of explicit human sexual conduct from their earliest appearance on the clay tablets of the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in ancient Mesopotamia, to the tablet computers of Silicon Valley.

1. Introduction: From Clay Tablets to Tablet Computers: Rationales for the book, theoretical approach, and summary of chaptersPART I: THEORETICAL AND HISTORICAL APPROACHES2. Theoretical Perspectives: Explicit Visual Sexual Imagery as Rule-based Representations3. Explicit Sex-themed Visual Imagery as Regulated Representations in the Ancient Near East: Babylon, Assyria and Egypt4. 'Pornography' and the heterogeneous, sex-themed Visual Imagery of Ancient Greece as Regulated Representations5. Explicit Sex-themed Visual Imagery as Regulated Representations in China and Japan6. Regulation of the Entwinement of the Sacred and the Sensual in Indian Art 7. Clash of Civilizations: Deterritorialization of Judeo-Christian Legislative texts to the Greco-Roman World 8. Explicit Visual Sexual Imagery as regulated representations during the Roman Empire, the Renaissance and the Enlightenment9. Regulation of Sex-themed Visual Imagery in the Muslim World: The Persian, Mughal & Ottoman EmpiresPART II: AMERICAN EXCEPTIONALISM AND REGULATION OF EXPLICIT VISUAL SEXUAL IMAGERY10. Regulation of the Tension Between Agape and Eros: Regulation of Explicit Visual Sexual Imagery in the United States11. Pedagogy of the Repressed: Sexual Liberation, Sexual Capitalism and Freedom of Expression in the United States12. Sexual Capitalism, Organized Crime and the Regulation of Explicit Sex-themed 13. The First Amendment, Municipal Agents and ExplicitVisual Sexual Imagery on the Internet: Can a government worker be a Playboy centerfold? 14. Explicit Sex-themes Visual Sexual Imagery and Intellectual Property LawPART III: INTERNATIONAL AND COMPARATIVE APPROACHES TO REGULATIONS OF EXPLICIT SEX-THEMED VISUAL IMAGERY15. Visual Sexual Imagery, Freedom of Expression and Women's Rights: American and Canadian Approaches16. Regulation of Online Pedopornography in the United States and France17. Epilogue: Looking back and Looking Forward: The Regulation of Sexting and Revenge Porn

Lyombe Eko carries out an historical and cultural survey of the regulation of visual depictions of explicit human sexual conduct from their earliest appearance on the clay tablets of the valley of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in ancient Mesopotamia, to the tablet computers of Silicon Valley. The Regulation of Sex-Themed Visual Imagery analyzes the contemporary problem of the applicability of the human right of freedom of expression to explicit imagery in the face of societal interests in the regulation of representations of human sexuality. This book will be of interest to scholars, students, and broad audiences interested in comparative studies in pornography regulation, the history of pornography, the law of pornography and obscenity, and visual culture and history alike.

"The Regulation of Sex-Themed Visual Imagery is a fascinating look at the global phenomenon of what becomes later in world history pornography throughout all of time, from prehistory and ancient civilizations in the East and West, through today's Internet and digital media environment. Lyombe Eko's book takes an oversaturated subject - sex and the media - and reinterprets it anew through a critically important global and historical, comparative lens." - Paul Grosswiler, Professor, University of Maine, USA and author of Old New Media: From Oral to Virtual Environments

"The Regulation of Sex-Themed Visual Imagery is a fascinating look at the global phenomenon of what becomes later in world history pornography throughout all of time, from prehistory and ancient civilizations in the East and West, through today's Internet and digital media environment. Lyombe Eko's book takes an oversaturated subject - sex and the media - and reinterprets it anew through a critically important global and historical, comparative lens." - Paul Grosswiler, Professor, University of Maine, USA and author of Old New Media: From Oral to Virtual Environments

"The Regulation of Sex-Themed Visual Imagery is a fascinating look at the global phenomenon of what becomes later in world history pornography throughout all of time, from prehistory and ancient civilizations in the East and West, through today's Internet and digital media environment. Lyombe Eko's book takes an oversaturated subject - sex and the media - and reinterprets it anew through a critically important global and historical, comparative lens." - Paul Grosswiler, Professor, University of Maine, USA and author of Old New Media: From Oral to Virtual Environments