Publications must bear a date of publication, and an arcane mark on their first page indicating the wizard responsible for creating it, or else the holy symbol of an approved church or seal of a noble responsible for creating it and the arcane mark of a wizard on record for certifying such approvals. Falsifying this date, symbol, seal, or mark is a crime subject to not less than 60 days in prison, and is taken as proof of intent for incitement, proselytization, or any similar crime such a publication may be considered to commit.
All publications approved by an official censor board within Cheliax or approved in an allied Lawful country may be produced and distributed freely provided they have minimal differences from the version approved and those differences are not judged to deliberately change the message in a politically or religiously significant manner.
All publications approved in another allied country which have gone one year from initial publication without violating the local laws of that country which permitted their publication may from that point forward be produced and distributed freely in Cheliax, provided they have minimal differences &c.
Books of the Law of Cheliax or any jurisdiction within it are automatically considered approved by the Queen. Books of the Law of allied countries are automatically considered approved by the censor board of those countries. These may be abridged so long as the abridgement is no shorter than twenty pages, the abridged sections have minimal differences from the original, and neither abridging nor differences are judged to deliberately change the content in a politically or religiously significant manner.
Publications of any length with no political or religious message may be submitted to an appropriate censor board with a date and a sworn affidavit that the author believes this to be true. After two days excluding Sundays for a work less than twenty pages or two weeks for longer works, if not informed by the censors that it is forbidden, they may publish the work under the assumption it is approved. Up to one year after submission to the censors, such board may inform them that it has instead been rejected, at which point they must immediately cease distribution. This is not criminal unless it is judged the affidavit was falsely sworn, in which case it is a crime punishable as above.
Any publications of at least twenty pages which were created before Sarenith 4714 may be given the arcane mark of an unapproved wizard and have the date noted as Sarenith 1 4714. Such wizards may personally sell those works and make further copies of them with the same date until Sarenith 1 4719, when this permission expires. Such publications may not be resold unless and until they receive full approval from a censor board. Falsifying this mark is a crime punished as above.
Nobles of the rank of Count or above may approve wizards for certifying publications within their lands, and establish local censor boards. Such an approval lasts for the lifetime of the approving noble, or until such time as they step down or are removed from their post, plus five years, or for the life of the wizard if approved by the monarch, unless revoked by the approving noble. Knowledge of such approvals and revocations must be conveyed promptly to the Royal Censorship Board and its ministers, including examples of the arcane marks involved, which will be kept on file to assess whether works were legal at their time of publication.
It is not criminal to attempt to distribute a approved publication outside of the lands in which it was approved, and such publications may not be confiscated, unless their approval is false. However, nobles of Count and higher are permitted to establish rules about which censor boards other than those of their direct or indirect lieges are recognized, and refuse others. If a publication is not legal to distribute within a jurisdiction, it must be kept private until it is in another jurisdiction where it is permitted; violating this after being given warning may be punished by 30 days in prison followed by exile to the publications' point of origin immediately thereafter, permitting return only if no forbidden publications are in the convicted's possession.
Personal correspondence, personal notes and records, transcripts of the meetings of the government at any level and in any form (incl. city councils, constitutional convention, legislatures of a town, city, or larger area where they exist, &c), transcripts of sermons, business records, &c, may be produced and copied without authorization, provided they are kept private; i.e., not distributed outside a small audience, not read in a public square or public house, and not put on display outside a private domicile.
Notwithstanding the normal approval process, if it is judged that a publication was deliberately intended to incite capital crimes, including but not limited to murder and arson, then whichever of the publisher and author had ill intent, potentially both, are liable for the harm done and may receive the sentence and they or their estates charged for the damages which result.
As of the adoption of these laws, Lastwall, Molthune, and Osirion are considered allied Lawful countries and Andoran, Galt, and the Thuvian city-states are considered other allied countries. The Queen, or her censor board or any other committee she designates, may change these lists, and any country which declares war on Cheliax is immediately removed from both lists.
The monarch has sole authority to override these rules and ban works otherwise permitted by them, by decree or other statute, including decrees promulgated before these rules were passed, and the royal word takes precedence.
"I think we could live with this. Better with Jackdaw if someone else proposes and I make amendments to make it weaker, but if someone proposes the harsh version first - and I think they will, if whatever Chelam's planning has failed - then I can contest it with this."