GuyClapperton 12 Staff Writer

Here we have it - only days after it emerged the the European Union was censoring an image on Wikipedia it's changed its mind. The image, from the Scorpions' 1976 album, Virgin Killers, can now be seen on the Wikipedia site - it depicts a nude female child with her genitals obscured by a crack in the camera lens.

Personally I wouldn't buy an album with that cover, it looks gratuitous in the truest sense of the word - in other words completely unnecessary and a cheap way of getting my attention. The issue here, though, is censorship. The image has been reinstated because, apparently, it's integrally artistic.

For me there's another issue. It doesn't look artistic but hey, that's in the eye of the beholder; to me the problem is that it hadn't been banned in any other medium so it was questionable that it should be banned in Wikipedia. It's just really difficult to justify a unilateral ban. On the other hand I'm uncomfortable with child nudity being deemed acceptable all of a sudden - 32 years ago there were all sorts of statements and images being made that we'd no longer deem appropriate. Does their status as historical artefacts make them acceptable to a general audience?

I can see this one running and running.