Gregory A. Piccionelli
Looking at Liberty
A recent opinion survey shows that that 47 percent of Americans between the ages of 18 and 30 agree with the statement that the First Amendment “goes too far in the rights that it guarantees.” The results are from an annual national survey of American attitudes about the First Amendment conducted by The Newseum Institute’s First Amendment Center, based at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
Exploring Terms of Cam Use
The live cam business is one of the adult entertainment industry’s best performing market segments. Consumers now purchase enough live cam show minutes to support thousands of regular live cam performers each day. And the trend is for more and more adult entertainment entrepreneurs to become involved in one or more aspects of the live-cam business, such as by providing the live content, by aggregating access to live performers, or by promoting live cam shows through affiliate marketing or the sale of advertising. Unfortunately, however, widespread participation in the live cam business has not yet resulted in widespread understanding about the numerous laws and legal issues involved in this relatively new part of the adult entertainment business.
Reversing 2257 Ruling Will Be Uphill Battle
On July 18, U.S. District Court Judge Michael Baylson issued his ruling in Free Speech Coalition vs. Holder, the lawsuit that pitted Free Speech Coalition and fifteen other plaintiffs against the Justice Department over the constitutionality of the federal recordkeeping and labeling laws (18 U.S.C. §2257, 18 U.S.C. §2257A and 28 CFR 75 et seq.), better known to the adult entertainment industry simply as the 2257 regulations.
Getting All the Rights
Most producers know that the acquisition of appropriate rights and permissions from performers is a necessary part of the content production process. Many producers are not aware, however, that there are often many other parties that may possess intellectual property rights that may be infringed in the production or exploitation of the content if appropriate licenses and permissions are not acquired from these parties as well. This is unfortunate because a failure to acquire adequate rights to exploit the content can limit the producer’s ability to exploit the content and expose the producer and the producer’s content licensees to the risk of infringement.
A Prohibited Use of Your Content
Most content producers and persons who license content for commercial use understand that photographs and videos are subject to protection under the copyright laws of the U.S. and most other countries. Because of this, there is a general understanding that such content usually cannot be used without appropriate permission.
DMCA, Safe Harbor — Tube Sites Take Note
On March 14, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals handed down an important ruling for companies that operate websites that allow users to upload content for display, as well as for content producers whose material is uploaded to such sites without their permission.
You’ve Come a Long Way, Baby!
Last November, the adult entertainment industry heaved a collective sigh of relief at the news that Barack Obama had been reelected. Widespread concerns that a Romney victory might usher in a new era of federal prosecutions were, in my opinion, not at all unreasonable.
XBIZ World at 100
Congratulations are in order for everyone at XBIZ on the occasion of the publication of this, the centennial edition of XBIZ World. It is a remarkable accomplishment by publisher Alec Helmy and all of the XBIZ World staff, past and present, who have tirelessly worked for more than eight years to make XBIZ World the adult entertainment industry’s premier printed publication.
Adult Entertainment Experts Set for AEVC ‘State of the Industry’ Session
A stellar array of speakers will bring an A-list level of experience to the “State of the Industry” session at the 2013 Adult Entertainment Virtual Convention and Awards.
U.S. Patent Alert
In 1998 I wrote an article for, what was at the time, a new adult industry business publication called AVN Online. The article focused on a federal circuit court decision that had just been handed down in the case of State Street Bank and Trust Company v. Signature Financial Group, Inc.
Politics’ New Era
The elections of 2012 are history. And the day after the results were in you could almost hear a collective sigh of relief from what has become an overly politicized and sharply divided America.
‘Fair Use’ Factors
Copyright law gives copyright owners the exclusive right to publish and distribute copies of their works. This means that owners of the copyrights in works such as photographs, videos, music and software are provided with a legal monopoly to exploit their works.
Legal Reality: Taking Notice
A surprisingly large number of adult entertainment companies fail to post appropriate legal compliance, disclaimer and other “notice” statements on their websites. Many even conduct business online without providing users with adequate website terms and conditions of use. Such omissions can be costly. They can limit an online company’s ability to enforce its rights or defend itself in a civil action.
Protecting Porn
Many countries, like the U.S., have a well-established adult entertainment industry. Some countries, like Saudi Arabia, have no legitimate adult industry at all. Such dramatic differences between developed nations are usually the result of the respective countries’ laws regulating the creation, distribution and possession of erotic materials. In the U.S., erotic materials are fully protected under our federal constitution except for child pornography and works that have been judicially determined to be obscene. In contrast, pornography enjoys no legal protection whatsoever in countries such as Saudi Arabia and Iran, whose legal systems are based on the body of Islamic religious law known as Sharia. In these countries, the creation, distribution and possession of pornographic content are strictly prohibited and violators can be subjected to terrible punishments, including amputation or even death.
Commitment To Prosecutions
In an interview recently published by the Daily Caller, the former chief of the U.S. Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Patrick Truman, revealed that Mitt Romney personally assured Truman earlier this year that Romney would “vigorously” prosecute pornographers if he is elected president. The same article also references an earlier public statement issued by Romney promising “strict enforcement of our nation’s obscenity laws.” Given the very real possibility Mitt Romney could be our next president, I think it is important to evaluate his recent statements and what they might mean for the adult entertainment industry.
Copyright Recapture - A New Era Is Dawning
When a company purchases an irrevocable assignment of the copyright in a work, such as a video or photograph, the company can rest assured that it will own the copyright and be able to freely exploit the work as it wishes, indefinitely, right? Wrong, at least under U.S. law.
Protecting Your Assets
As the adult entertainment industry has matured and obtained greater general acceptance as a legitimate business, so to have the number of abusive lawsuits against adult entertainment companies and their principals. Where once lawsuits against adult entertainment companies were almost always brought by parties outside the industry, such as by patent trolls, and governmental entities, like the Federal Trade Commission, now actions initiated by one adult entertainment entity against another are commonplace.
A Great Victory and Word of Caution
The adult entertainment industry’s multi-decade war against the federal record keeping and labeling statutes, known to many as the 2257 regulations, recently received one of its biggest victories in years.
Kickstarting With ‘Crowdfunding’
There has been a lot of talk recently about a phenomenon called “crowdfunding,” a relatively new type of fundraising that relies on social media and the Internet to obtain small amounts of capital from large numbers of individuals to accumulate large aggregated amounts of capital. In recent years, Internet-based crowdfunding sites such as Kickstarter (KickStarter.com) and Indiegogo (IndieGogo.com) have been used to raise millions of dollars for many types of businesses and projects.
5-Point Checklist for Content Producers
Online adult entertainment companies are producing their own content more than ever before. Low production costs and an international pool of relatively inexpensive professional and amateur talent have practically eliminated any meaningful economic barrier to entry into the adult content production business. As a consequence, nowadays it seems like almost every adult website is creating some, if not all, of its own content.