EXAMPLES FROM THE FCC
The more explicit or graphic the description or depiction, the
greater the likelihood that the material will be considered
patently offensive. Merely because the material consists of
double entendre or innuendo, however, does not preclude an
indecency finding if the sexual or excretory import is
unmistakable.
WYSP(FM), Philadelphia, PA ``Howard Stern Show'' (1987)
`vulgar and lewd references to the male genitals and to masturbation and sodomy broadcast in the
context of . . . `explicit references to masturbation, ejaculation, breast size, penis size, sexual intercourse,
nudity, urination, oral-genital contact, erections, sodomy, bestiality, menstruation and testicles.'''God, my testicles are like down to the floor . . . you could really have a party with these . . . Use them like Bocci balls.
(As part of a discussion of lesbians) I mean to go around porking other girls with vibrating rubber products . . .
Have you ever had sex with an animal? Well, don't knock it. I was sodomized by Lambchop.
WQAM(AM), Miami, FL ``Uterus Guy'' Song 1999
I don't want to grow up, I'm a uterus guy. I want to spend
a week or so right here between your thighs. Inhale your
clam, with my head jammed by your quivering, crushing gams.
No, I don't want to get up or get a towel to dry, cause I
wouldn't be a uterus guy. I don't want to get up, I'm a
uterus guy and I know where to lick and chew exactly where
you like. You'll have more fun when I make you come, with
my nose between your thighs.
KROQ(FM), Los Angeles, CA ``You Suck'' 1998
I know you're really proud cause you think you're well hung
but I think its time you learn how to use your tongue.You say you want things to be even and you want things to be fair
but you're afraid to get your teeth caught in my pubic hair.If you're lying there expecting me to suck your dick,
you're going to have to give me more than just a token lick.
. . . Go down baby, you suck, lick it hard and move your tongue around.If you're worried about babies, you can lower your risk,
by giving me that special cunnilingus kiss.
. . . you can jiggle your tongue on my clit. Don't worry
about making me have an orgasm. . . . You asshole, you shit.
I know it's a real drag, to suck my cunt when I'm on the rag. . . .You tell me it's gross to suck my yeast infection.
How do you think I feel when I gag on your erection.
WXTB(FM), Clearwater, FL ``Bubba, The Love Sponge'' 2000
Most women don't like swallowing, but I do. The trick is
you need to swallow at the right time. Do it when you're
deep throating. . . . I like pleasure giving, I like a
pleasure giving woman who really, really likes to enjoy
giving oral. . . . She does more than just go up and down,
she's creative by licking, nibbling and using overall
different techniques. . . . The sexy turn on for me is when
I . . . expel into my partner's mouth. . . . I don't mind
giving BJs . . . if a man doesn't get off, that means he
wasn't quite excited by my techniques.
Less explicit material and material that relies principally on
innuendo to convey a sexual or excretory meaning have also been
cited by the Commission as actionably indecent where the sexual
or excretory meaning was unmistakable.
KLOL(FM), Houston, TX ``Stevens and Pruett Show''
The doctor was talking about size. The man complained
earlier that he was so large that it was ruining his
marriages. Big is good if the guy knows how to use it. She
is so big she could handle anything. Some of these guys, a
very few of them, a hand full are like . . . two hands full.
Twelve inches, about the size of a beer can in diameter.
So, now could you handle something like that? It's actually
ruined marriages. A big organ for a big cathedral.
Somebody big is just going to have to find somebody that's
big.
Indecent - NAL Issued. The Rusk Corporation (KLOL(FM)), 8
FCC Rcd 3228 (1993) (forfeiture paid). As to the use of
innuendo in the cited passages, the Commission said:
"[W]hile [the licensee] may have substituted innuendo and
double entendre for more directly explicit sexual references
and descriptions in some instances, unmistakable sexual
references remain that render the sexual meaning of the
innuendo inescapable." 8 FCC Rcd at 3228.
KGB-FM, San Diego, CA ``Candy Wrapper''
Song
I whipped out my Whopper and whispered, Hey, Sweettart,
how'd you like to Crunch on my Big Hunk for a Million Dollar
Bar? Well, she immediately went down on my Tootsie Roll and
you know, it was like pure Almond Joy. I couldn't help but
grab her delicious Mounds, ... this little Twix had the Red
Hots. ... as my Butterfinger went up her tight little Kit
Kat, and she started to scream Oh, Henry! Oh, Henry! Soon
she was fondling my Peter Paul, and Zagnuts and I knew it
wouldn't be long before I blew my Milk Duds clear to Mars
and gave her a taste of the old Milky Way. ... I said, Look
... why don't you just take my Whatchamacallit and slip it
up your Bit-O-Honey. Oh, what a piece of Juicy Fruit she
was too. She screamed Oh, Crackerjack. You're better than
the Three Musketeers! as I rammed my Ding Dong up her Rocky
Road and into her Peanut Butter Cup. Well, I was giving it
to her Good 'n Plenty, and all of a sudden, my Starburst.
... she started to grow a bit Chunky and ... Sure enough,
nine months later, out popped a Baby Ruth.
Indecent - NAL Issued. KGB, Inc. (KGB-FM), 7 FCC Rcd 3207
(1992), forfeiture reduced 13 FCC Rcd 16396 (1998)
(forfeiture paid). See also Great American Television and
Radio Company, Inc. (WFBQ(FM)/WNDE(AM)), 6 FCC Rcd 3692,
3693 (MMB 1990) (forfeiture paid) ("While the passages
arguably consist of double entendre and indirect references,
the language used in each passage was understandable and
clearly capable of a specific sexual meaning and, because of
the context, the sexual import was inescapable."); and WIOD,
Inc. (WIOD(AM)), 6 FCC Rcd 3704 (MMB 1989) (forfeiture paid)
(``notwithstanding the use of candy bar names to symbolize
sexual activities, the titillating and pandering nature of
the song makes any thought of candy bars peripheral at
best'').
Compare the following case in which the material aired was deemed \ not to be actionably indecent.
WFBQ(FM)/WNDE(AM), Indianapolis, IN ``Elvis'' and ``Power, Power, Power''
As you know, you gotta stop the King, but you can't kill him
. . . So you talk to Dick Nixon, man you get him on the
phone and Dick suggests maybe getting like a mega-Dick to
help out, but you know, you remember the time the King ate
mega-Dick under the table at a 095 picnic . . . you think
about getting mega-Hodgie, but that's no good because you
know, the King was a karate dude . . .
Power! Power! Power! Thrust! Thrust! Thrust! First it was
Big Foot, the monster car crunching 4x4 pickup truck. Well,
move over, Big Foot! Here comes the most massive power-
packed monster ever! It's Big Peter! (Laughter) Big Peter
with 40,000 Peterbilt horsepower under the hood. It's
massive! Big Peter! Formerly the Big Dick's Dog Wiener
Mobile. Big Peter features a 75-foot jacked up monster
body. See Big Peter crush and enter a Volvo. (Laughter) .
. . strapped himself in the cockpit and put Big Peter
through its paces. So look out Big Foot! Big Peter is
coming! Oh my God! It's coming! Big Peter! (Laughter)
Not Indecent. Great American Television and Radio Company,
Inc. (WFBQ(FM)/WNDE(AM)), 6 FCC Rcd 3692 (MMB 1990). The
licensee provided a fuller transcript of the cited ``Elvis''
excerpt and explained the context in which it was aired,
arguing that no sexual meaning was intended and that no such
meaning would be reasonably understood from the material
taken as a whole. The licensee also explained the regional
humor of the Power, Power, Power excerpt and the context in
which it was broadcast. The Mass Media Bureau held that the
material was not indecent because the ``surrounding contexts
do not appear to provide a background against which a sexual
import is inescapable.'' 6 FCC Rcd at 3693.
In assessing explicitness, the Commission also looks to the
audibility of the material as aired. If the material is
difficult or impossible to understand, it may not be actionably
indecent. However, difficulty in understanding part of the
material or an attempt to obscure objectionable material will not
preclude a finding of indecency where at least some of the
material is recognizable or understandable.
KGB-FM, San Diego, CA ``Sit on My Face''
Monty Python Song
Sit on my face and tell me that you love me. I'll sit on
your face and tell you I love you, too. I love to hear you
moralize when I'm between your thighs. You blow me away.
Sit on my face and let me embrace you. I'll sit on your
face and then I'll love you (?) truly. Life can be fine, if
we both sixty-nine. If we sit on faces (?) the ultimate
place to play (?). We'll be blown away.
Indecent - NAL Issued. KGB, Inc. (KGB-FM), 7 FCC Rcd 3207
(MMB 1992), forfeiture reduced 13 FCC Rcd 16396 (1998)
(forfeiture paid). The song was found to be actionably
indecent despite English accent and ``ambient noise''
because the lyrics were sufficiently understandable. 7 FCC
Rcd at 3207.