Anyone know if this is true?

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Catholic Church Makes A Fortune In The German Porn Business
Weltbild, one of Germany’s largest publishing companies, happens to be owned and operated by the Catholic Church. But that has not stopped it from publishing books that many of the faithful find offensive.
Weltbild," Germany’s largest media company, sells books, DVDs, music and more – and also happens to belong 100% to the Catholic Church. Few people knew about this connection until this month when Buchreport, a German industry newsletter, reported that the Catholic company also sells porn. full story here
 
A search of Weltbild’s website doesn’t show those books being carried by the company
weltbild.de/

However, Amazon.com does carry Anwaltshure and judging from the excerpt, the book is definitely pornographic.

I am not sure if Weltbild ever carried the books in question. Perhaps now that the story is public, action to remove them has been taken?
 
Several issues with the article. Firstly, the article vaguely states that it is owned by the “Catholic Church”, which really doesn’t state who controls it. Local Bishop? Religious order? Wikipedia states that it is the dioceses in Germany that own the company, but this claim is uncited.

Secondly, it states that the “Catholic Church Makes A Fortune In The German Porn Business”, but offers no proof of this statement. It states that “2,500 erotic books” are available online, and that it has an income of “1.7 billion” euros.

However, it does not state what the actual sales statistics for this material are, or how what percent of its annual revenue it makes up. Based on the claims that this is the largest bookseller short of Amazon, they likely sell millions of books, and 2,500 are a small, small, percentage of total titles available.

I find it hard to believe that this particular ‘news article’ is more than a piece of propaganda to embarrass the church to advance some agenda.
 
Press release from Weltbild (In german):

Augsburg, den 27. Oktober 2011
Weltbild widerspricht Pornografie-Vorwurf

In den letzten Tagen wurde in einer Reihe von Medien in zumeist polemischer Weise das Internet-Sortiment der Verlagsgruppe Weltbild angegriffen. Zugespitzt wurde behauptet, Weltbild verkaufe Pornografie – was insbesondere damit begründet wurde, dass zum Suchbegriff „Erotik“ ca. 2.500 Produkte angezeigt wurden, – und würde damit „Millionengewinne“ machen.

Festzustellen ist: „Pornografie“ ist rechtlich ein eindeutig definierter Begriff. Weltbild bietet in seinem Sortiment keine Pornografie an und hat dies auch noch nie getan. Weder Weltbild noch seine Gesellschafter „verdienen mit Pornografie Millionen“.

Der Umsatzanteil der kritisierten Artikel ist minimal. Bücher, die über das Stichwort „Erotik“ im Internet zu finden waren, erzielten im aufgelaufenen Kalenderjahr 2011 einen Anteil von weniger als 0,017 % des Gesamtumsatzes der Verlagsgruppe Weltbild. Schlagzeilen wie „Katholische Kirche macht mit Pornos ein Vermögen“ sind vor diesem Hintergrund schlichtweg unwahr und diffamierend. Das Unternehmen prüft rechtliche Schritte gegen die Verleumder.

Wie jeder andere Buchhändler nimmt Weltbild eine aktive Zusammenstellung seines Angebotes vor. Bei Weltbild sind dies der Katalog, die Filialen und der redaktionell gestaltbare Teil des Internetshops. Dort finden sich die angesprochenen Titel nicht.

Das von Weltbild aktiv zusammengestellte Angebot wird im Internet um das lieferbare Großhandelsangebot des deutschen Buchhandels ergänzt. In diesem Grundsortiment des deutschen Buchhandels finden sich auch Bücher erotischen Inhalts. Sie werden durch die Großhandlungen KNV/Stuttgart und LIBRI/Hamburg vorrätig gehalten und sind damit über jede Buchhandlung beziehbar. Über eine gezielte Suche sind sie auch überall im Internet zu finden.

Grundsätzlich ist festzuhalten: Eine Zensur findet nicht statt, Weltbild geht vom mündigen Bürger aus. Darüber hinaus versuchen wir, unserer Verantwortung gerecht zu werden. Holocaust-Leugner, Kriegsverherrlichung, Gewaltverherrlichung, Sex – da setzt Weltbild seine Grenzen, genauso bei polemischen Büchern über seine Gesellschafter, die Diözesen. In den genannten Extrem-Fällen behält sich das Unternehmen vor, diese Bücher aus dem Angebot zu nehmen. Zweifelhafte Bücher werden nur mit Basisangaben gelistet. Angesichts von 775.000 lieferbaren Titeln und jährlich 100.000 Neuerscheinungen ist eine solche Prüfung nie abschließend zu gestalten.

Kontakt

Eva Großkinsky
Leitung Unternehmenskommunikation
Verlagsgruppe Weltbild GmbH, Augsburg
Telefon: +49 821 / 7004 - 5555
Fax: +49 821 / 7004 - 5558
E-Mail: eva.grosskinsky@weltbild.com

Translation from google:

Augsburg, 27 October 2011
world view contradicts pornography charges

In recent days, was attacked in a number of media in most polemical way, the range of internet publishing group of the world. Pointed it was claimed, the world sell pornography - which was particularly due to the fact that you have chosen search term “Erotic” approximately 2,500 products, - and would thus make “millions in profits.” It should be noted: “pornography” is legally a clearly defined term. Worldview offers no pornography in his range and has done so before. Neither the world nor its associates “earn millions with pornography.”

The revenue share of the criticized article is minimal. Books about the word “erotic” were to be found on the Internet, achieved in calendar year 2011 accumulated a stake of less than 0.017% of the total turnover of the publishing group of the world. Headlines such as “Catholic Church makes a fortune with porn” is against this background is simply untrue and defamatory. The company is taking legal action against the slanderers.

Like every other bookseller accepts the world for active compilation of his offer. In this world view are the catalog, the stores and the editorial part of customizable internet shops. There can not find the relevant title.

The image of the world put together actively offer is completed on the Internet available to the wholesale supply of the German Book Trade. This basic range of the German book trade, there are also books erotic content. They are kept in stock by wholesalers KNV / Stuttgart and BOOKS / Hamburg and are thus obtainable through any bookseller. Through a targeted search, they are also found throughout the Internet.

Basically, it should be noted: Censorship does not happen, the world is derived from the citizenship. In addition, we seek to fulfill our responsibilities. Holocaust-deniers, glorification of war, glorification of violence, sex - there is the world’s borders, just as when polemical books on its shareholders, the Dioceses. In these extreme cases, the company reserves the right to take these books from the offer. Doubtful books are listed with basic information. In view of 775,000 available titles and new releases 100,000 annually to make such an examination is never final.

Contact

Eva Großkinsky
Director of Corporate Communication
Publishing Group World Image GmbH, Augsburg
Phone: +49 821 / 7004 - 5555
Fax: +49 821 / 7004-5558
E-mail: @ eva.grosskinsky weltbild.com
 
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