U.S. Spells Out Proposals to Curb Child Pornography : Arts: Librarians, publishers and arts groups say the plan limits artistic freedom of expression.

The Justice Department on Monday issued proposed regulations to control the spread of child pornography, but the action brought immediate criticism and the promise of renewed litigation from arts, library and publishing groups.

The rules would require book and magazine publishers, movie, video and TV producers and art photographers to record names, addresses and birth dates of models and actors appearing in sexually explicit works, and maintain files listing every stage or professional name ever used by the performers.

Any book or magazine containing explicit work--even if the work is not legally judged obscene--would have to carry a notice indicating the location of the background records, according to the proposed rules. Videos and movies would have to display the information in their credits, and individual art photographs might be required to carry such labels, as well, according to the proposal.

The proposed regulations had been awaited since a February agreement between the Justice Department and publishing and arts organizations that had filed suit charging a new law would impose curbs on freedom of speech and artistic expression.

The groups filing the suit were led by the American Library Assn. Under the February agreement, accepted by a federal judge in Washington, the government agreed not to try to enforce the new law until the Justice Department completes a complex rule-making process. Monday’s publication of the proposed regulations in the Federal Register initiated the rule-making, and plaintiffs in the suit, including the American Booksellers Assn. and the National Assn. of Artists Organizations, said they would challenge the proposal.

Ann Kappler, a lawyer representing the American Library Assn., said the Justice Department proposal contained few surprises. A Justice Department spokesman declined to comment.

Charlotte Murphy, executive director of the National Assn. of Artists Organizations, said the proposed rules indicate that the Justice Department may be attempting to expand on a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling that lets the government bar federally funded family planning agencies from discussing abortion with clients.

“It is clear that the government is growing increasingly intolerant of diverse points of view and expression,” Murphy said.

Under the proposed rules, publishers, film and video producers and photographers would have to keep photocopies of passports, drivers’ licenses and other identification documents produced by actors and models. Failure to keep the records or to make them available to federal law enforcement agencies would be a felony punishable by a two-year prison term.