Porn In Philadelphia

[Biford]

Hi, I hear that porn outside of california is illegal. If so then why are there legit production companies in south florida such as brazzers bangbros and reality kings producing porn?

[Edward]

When is the last time you read a news story about anyone being charged with the "crime" of making a sexually explicit video? There is no such crime, so far as I know, anywhere.

Talk is cheap. Don't believe everything you hear.

There are laws that punish obscenity - and Ira Isaacs is now awaiting sentencing in LOS ANGELES of all places, after a third trial that resulted in his conviction for that offense. The topic or theme of his charged videos centered around feces, and so it was pretty deviant material, not just "insert Tab A into Slot B" kind of sex. I point Ira's case out to show you that the federal obscenity statutes apply in all US jurisdictions. You can start to learn about those laws here, http://www.xxxlaw.com/obscenity/index.html and get a flavor for what's been prosecuted during the last decade, where it's been prosecuted, and the outcome, here: http://www.xxxlaw.com/obscenity/table.html There are also laws that protect children, and they are serious laws - even when it's the children themselves who create the material on their laptops and cell phones. There are also federal laws that regulate the creation of these videos - identities to be verified, copies to be maintained, notices to be attached, records to be made available - and those laws carry a very serious penalty of five years incarceration. They are more than a bit complicated, but you can start to learn about them here: http://www.xxxlaw.com/section-2257/index.html .

The more interesting issue is whether an adult film maker is guilty of prostitution when he or she pays other people to perform sexual acts in order to create a video. In California, that issue has long been settled by People v. Freeman. New Hampshire's Supreme Court approaches that same conclusion. In South Florida and Nevada, the prosecutors know all about their local adult film industries and choose not to raise any issue about the same issue, believing, I think correctly, that if they were to go to the mat, the courts would determine either that the First Amendment protects the making of these films or that the legislative intent behind the prostitution statutes was not aimed at it. This issue came to the fore recently this year in Arizona, with the Prosecutor in the county that includes Phoenix doing some sabre-rattling about the creation of porn, thought it's hardly any state secret that a healthy amount of sexually explicit content is filmed there. To see my take on his comments and a good breakdown of all the cases I know that have considered the issue or similar issues in other jurisdictions, take a look at http://www.xxxlaw.com/articles/pornography.and.porn.html

It is incredibly important to note that ALL of the cases involve a guy with a camera filming other people who are not in contact with him. There are NO cases, anywhere, that protect POV content film making from the reach of the prostitution laws. If you film another person interacting with YOU sexually as you hold the camera, all bets are off, your attorney will have ZERO precedent from other cases with which to argue.

All that having been said, I think it's pretty potentially dangerous to make any sexually explicit videos - and that includes videos that just depict the genitals and pubic area of any person - without sound legal advice and legal backup standing by just in case. Nobody should do this anywhere without a very long talk with a lawyer who concentrates in this area, nor without establishing an ongoing relationship with such a lawyer, and there are people who have gotten into serious trouble because they proceeded without preparation. And one guy who sells his discs on late night TV has made himself a pretty wild career of getting into trouble. Why?

At the level of the cop on the beat, or the even the detective in his office, we do not select or train law enforcement officers to have a very sophisticated knowledge of statutory construction or constitutional interpretation: they are trained in well-settled areas that are likely to be a regular part of their decision making. Indeed, there are wide segments of the country where local prosecutors know not one thing about the law of adult content. This means that they just may be prone to act precipitously if they happen upon what you are doing, and assume it to be illegal because it strikes them as somehow "wrong". Even if they watch porn themselves. If they make an arrest, and especially if it comes to public attention, and especially if this is in the Bible Belt, there will be enormous pressure on prosecutors to do something very dumb - to prosecute it for prostitution. It's dumb because, if they lose the case at trial or on appeal, and I think that's the likely result in most or all US jurisdictions, it is likely to attract other adult film makers because a new jurisdiction has been added to the "surely safe" list of states. That's the exact opposite of what prosecutors, answerable to the people in those places in elections, want to do. But it sometimes takes them some time to think the issues through, and in the meantime, your life can go to hell. If your activities are detected, there may be enormous fallout in your personal life, especially if you, yourself, are a cop, or if you are military, or if you work for a corporate employer, or if you possess any license or work for anyone who has a license that requires proof of good moral character. I suggest you start educating yourself first, here: http://www.xxxlaw.com/articles/begin.html

And all best wishes to you!