* Inverted out-of-universe in the DVD commentary of the ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' episode "Once More With Feeling," an episode [[ScrewedByTheNetwork nominated]] for an Emmy. The Writer/Director's Commentary literally stated "This is basically... porn," when discussing the lyrics to a certain song. ([[GettingCrapPastTheRadar Nothing graphic]], [[Radar/BuffyTheVampireSlayer but explicit as anything]]).

* In Creator/KurtVonnegut's ''GodBlessYouMrRosewater'', conservative Senator Rosewater is quite proud that he created a law that defines what is obscene and not art. If you can see pubic hair, it's pornography. (Note that this was before the modern custom of porn stars [[LoopholeAbuse shaving off their pubic hair]]).

* From one of Creator/DaveBarry's books:
-->"So, you claim this film expresses an environmentalist theme?"\\
"Yes. The woman feels ''very passionately'' about the zucchini."

* The Music/DeadKennedys included a print of Creator/HRGiger's painting "Penis Landscape" (which depicted a wall of penises entering a wall of vaginas) with their landmark album ''Music/{{Frankenchrist}}''. Members of the band were charged with Distributing Harmful Matter to Minors based on this, and though the case did not result in a conviction (the painting was, finally, ruled "art" and not "porn"), the band's Alternative Tentacles record label was driven almost to bankruptcy because of trial costs.

* The American film distribution company Vinegar Syndrome argued that while they were indeed established to restore and distribute X-rated media, they emphasized that they are not a part of the pornographic industry, stating: "We are film archivists who happen to focus on preserving sex films."

* {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d in ''Webcomic/BrawlInTheFamily'' in a [[http://www.brawlinthefamily.com/?p=791 Waluigi strip.]] Daisy sees a picture of a butt on the wall and is disgusted, but Luigi tells her it's a ''painting'' of a butt, which makes all the difference, apparently. Doubles as a reference to the painting [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Treachery_of_Images The Treachery Of Images.]]

* ''Serles/{{Coupling}}'': "Inferno". While the video in question was undoubtedly pornographic (its full name was ''Lesbian Spank Inferno''), Steve tries to present it as [[FauxSymbolism a feminist art movie with underlying social critique]]. An inversion occurs immediately afterward. When he [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKGK2fplV_w fails to convince the others]] of this angle, he starts to rant that it doesn't matter, since [[TheRuleOfFirstAdopters every invention and scientific progress (including fire, the printing press, and the Internet) had only one purpose]]: to enable men to see naked female bottoms.

* Creator/UmbertoEco wrote [[http://non-compos-mentis.blogspot.com/2006/11/umberto-eco-how-to-recognize-porn-movie.html an essay]] in the '70s about how to tell films with artistic value from porn. He argued that porn movies always contain a lot of {{padding}} before sex scenes to titillate the audience.

* In ''LightNovel/BokuWaTomodachiGaSukunai'', Sena is caught playing an BlandNameProduct [[HGame eroge]] called LightNovel/{{The Sacred Bla|cksmith}}ckstar. She insists that it's art, so Yozora makes her read the dialogue of the last scene, some GladToBeAliveSex, out loud.

* In the first novel British agent Literature/{{Quiller}} goes on a long rant on the subject while tied up with nothing to look at but a painting of a nude woman that happens to be in the room.

Pornographic works carry a considerable stigma in the U.S. and ([[EuropeansAreKinky to a lesser extent]]) in other Western countries. However, a lot of classic works of art contain nudity (and, occasionally, sex acts). For this reason, legally a work of art is not considered pornographic under U.S. obscenity laws; what constitutes "artistic merit" is left [[FigureItOutYourself somewhat vague]].

This trope ends up the subject of debate whenever a so-called mainstream film with unsimulated sexual acts is released (such films have turned up in cinemas since the 1960s but have become higher profile in recent years), or in the case of an increasing number of TV series and films, increased explicitness that stops just short of unsimulated. For some, the simple fact the film is being released in a venue other than an adult video store defines it as "not porn", or if a "notable director" or actors are involved. PornWithoutPlot is ''not'' a delineator as there are many porn films with storylines that go beyond "seducing the pizza delivery boy."

* ''Anime/KillLaKill'', full stop, with a {{Stripperiffic}} sailor uniform being one of the key cast members, and an entire faction called Nudist Beach, it can blur the line to hell and back.

* Sadly somewhat TruthInTelevision: many famous antique statues during the late Renaissance / Victorian age in Italy were altered to have leaves covering their genitals. The cast of ''Art/{{David}}'' at the South Kensington Museum (now the Victoria and Albert Museum), had a detachable plaster fig leaf, added for visits by Queen Victoria and other important ladies when it was hung on the figure using two strategically placed hooks; it is now displayed nearby.
* It gets a lot worse with classical depictions of fertility goddesses. Pretty much all of them are shown naked. Some were shown naked and masturbating. Some of the more noteworthy ones were depicted naked, masturbating, and staring directly at the viewer.

* Note, though, that it being made by Romans doesn't mean it can't be porn. Archaeologists have discovered obscene wall-paintings in the ruins of Pompeii. On the walls of brothels. It's Not Porn, It's Advertisement. And there exist Greek vases which were decorated with pictures of people having sex. Since Greek vases often had pictures which demonstrated their contents on them, it's maybe best not to think too closely about that one...

* The ''Disney/{{Frozen}}'' fanfic ''Fanfic/FrozenWight'' has a peddler who tries to use this to justify some illicit paintings of Anna and Elsa.