Other Criminal Code provisions are already applicable to material which the courts may hold to be obscene on the grounds that it unduly exploits sex, and this includes material that uses children as its subject matter.
Freedom of expression is protected in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
PEN Canada intervened in the case after Langer's paintings were seized and he was charged with manufacturing child pornography. Langer's case was dismissed largely on the grounds that the artistic merit of his paintings exempted them from a charge of child pornography. The law was not struck down as unconstitutional. On January 18 of this year, the Supreme Court heard an appeal of Sharpe's case. The Supreme Court's decision is still pending.