I googled this a while back and got the impression that California was the only answer. Then I read a post on here that Mike South works in Atlanta, so obviously California's not exclusive. So how do you find out what states will tolerate a porn studio? Also, how would one get started? How much personal investment is required? It seems like you would need more than a couple of titles. Even for just the talent, that's a hefty investment. You can't just walk down to Best Buy, get a camcorder, pick up random women and say "It's a POV, blow me and I'll pay you back when I get rich." (Although, if anyone can figure out how to make that work...) :D
^Yeah California really is the only place in the US where it's legal to make porn. Anywhere else and it's just a case of trying your best to dodge the authorities.
Given that authorities sometimes try to prosecute studios by equating the paying of actors to have sex with prostitution, would there be any advantage to having a porn studio in a state where prostitution is legal, such as Nevada or Rhode Island?
^ Not sure. I'm definitely under the impression that it's illegal there as well, but maybe ADT user pornlaw can answer that one for you. (Hopefully he'll show up here in a while.)
Prostitution is legal in Rhode Island? I did not know that. I guess Tommy Caffey did pass a law to help out Michael's business interests. (BTW, "Brotherhood" is the easily the best show on TV) Irish not on the hill
These are two different industries and prostitution is only legal in certain counties in NV where the population is under 750,000 (dont hold me to that number) and you have to buy a license to open a brothel, usually from an existing brothel and they can cost $500,000 to the millions. California is the only state where there has been a decision affirmatively indicating that hardcore production is a First Amendment protected free speech right. No other state has had a Supreme Court case on point. By the way, even according to Freeman, POV may not even be legal. Thanks KillBill -- Michael www.AdultBizLaw.com
In Freeman, the Supreme Court case in California that made shooting hardcore content legal, the Court found that since, as KillBill notes, the person paying for the scene and the person receiving the sexual gratification where not one in the same, therefore it wasnt prositution and was considered a form of free speech and artistic expression. Michael www.AdultBizLaw.com Edited by - pornlaw on 12/12/2008 3:18:08 PM
I did not know that porn was illegal to produce in most US states. I mean, you can legally purchase porn just about anywhere in the United States. The United States is truly the creator of the modern pornography industry, it is where the most porn is produced and where most money is made with regards to sex and porn. Over 89% of Internet Porn originates from the United States. I know that a number of softcore porn models who have their own websites shoot most or all of their content where they live (whatever state that may be) and upload to the net from home. Moreover, porn is protected as under the constitution as free speech, and so should be theoretically legal to produce anywhere. Perhaps though, some states add restrictions making it impossible for a porn company or studio to operate openly. Even if California happens to be the only real place where all the porn produced by the US originates - it is still a very American product as distinctions between one state and another matter much much less as compared to earlier times in American history.
California is the only state where there has been a decision affirmatively indicating that hardcore production is a First Amendment protected free speech right. No other state has had a Supreme Court case on point. [/quote] It's kind of surprising that after all these years, there have not been more prosecutions, as conservative as some states can be. Anybody have any thoughts on why that is? I qwould wager that most people filming outside of the Valley aren't bent on bringing a hell of a lot of attention to themselves. Of course, that does bring up the point of Alexandra Silk and Luc Wylder and their Sex Across America series -- having sex in very identifiable locations (incl. Virginia, Colorado, Louisiana, South Dakota, etc) so they could have potentially opened themselves up to prosecution, no? Anybody know of any other films/shoots where there's absolutely no doubt as to that it's being filmed somewhere besides California?
I just had to correct myself... December 4th New Hampshire's Supreme Court decided a case that now protects the production of hardcore content as being a protected First Amendment right... They based their decision heavily on California's Freeman decision from 1988. Live Free or Die means something still in NH !!! Michael www.AdultBizLaw.com
thanks pornlaw. i think it is now simply a matter of convenience. yes, you could film porn anywhere and open yourself up to state prosecution, but if you had the time and financial resources, you could push it up to the supreme court and have a good chance of overriding those state laws. but it is easier for everyone to just keep quite and not push the other side - at least in the more conservative states. it is not like you need a passport or something to go to california or las vegas. i venture new york is probably also a state in which porn studios could thrive (if they wanted to). i know a lot deeply conservative states in the south-east have Adam & Eve stores not to mention non-franchise porn shops, porn sections connected to mainstream video rental stores, and of course, strip clubs. So, porn production isn't too far fetched, and things are always changing. just my two cents.
I think that they do not want the risk of losing a prosecution which would make filming porn legal in that state, like in California and New Hampshire. Jacco
Btw, I just read in an article talking about the controversial Playboy Mexico cover (which resembles a nude virgin mary right before a major religious festival was to take place there) that Playboy is located in Chicago. Is that true and do they do their shooting there? I guess hypothetically, you could set up your business office in any state, and do the actual shooting on the west coast...after all, all the hot chicks that really want to make money doing porn head over there anyways.
I believe they have photo studios in both Chicago and Los Angeles--they've shown the LA studio on The Girls Next Door when Holly Madison was working there. But what Playboy does can hardly be considered porn, unless you're a religious-right-winger or an antisex feminist. But yes, Playboy's corporate and editorial offices are in Chicago, and have been since the founding on the magazine. ____________________________________________________
"There can never be too many beautiful women Hypnotized for our pleasure."
I have to disagree there wcw. Playboy can be considered *soft*core porn. I don't see any problem with that. Now the new video from Britney Spears called womanizer - I would not think that that is porn by any means. In reality, these definitions aren't so finite and so, we should leave them open to interpretation. I don't consider maxim or sports illustrated swimsuit to be porn either. But once a woman is completely naked, and they are trying sell something (be it a magazine or video) based entirely on the nudity of a beautiful woman (unlike an r-rated hollywood flick which may feature and even promote a nude scene, but is about much more than just that) - that would be porn of one type or another. The main issue here is, if it is legal to shoot playboy photos in Chicago, why wouldn't it be legal to shoot other types of porn there as well? As many have already stated, the law the makes it illegal to shoot porn outside one or two states is really a law that can't be enforced. But, it is more convenient to just go to the places where it is clearly legal rather than work to put an end to those enforceable laws once and for all.
Supposedly, the way the laws are written, they do not specifically prohibit prositution if it takes place indoors. "Streetwalking" is illegal. I may be missing some details, but look it up. Some people want to call this a "loophole" that should be closed, but as far as I know, it hasn't been yet.
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sickguy Deactivated User
I'm unofficially Beauty Dior's #1 Fan 736 Posts 9/06
Posted - Dec 15 2008 : 12:27AM
I could have sworn I've seen some films that were filmed in New York.
^I'm not saying stuff isn't filmed in other places. I'm just saying that it's not legal to film in other places.
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realtip Deactivated User
2301 Posts 6/04
Posted - Dec 15 2008 : 1:06AM
Having a precedent in place really helps. Since there is a Supreme Court precedent establishing the legality of video pornography in one state, any other state attempting to prosecute the production of pornography would need compelling basis for contending that the precedent doesn't apply to its particular case. For example, in the New Hampshire case that pornlaw mentioned, he said that the Supreme Court of New Hampshire "based their decision heavily on California's Freeman decision from 1988." Thus, the precedent set in one state can now be applied, and has been applied, to other states. Also, it was my understanding that it isn't "illegal," per se, to shoot consensual adult porn in any state, since states do not generally have laws explicitly prohibiting the filming of adult pornography. Even in porn prosecutions, the defendants are almost always charged with "obscenity," or "pandering," or "solicitation," or some other such contrived charge; they are rarely, if ever, charged directly with the filming of pornography, which itself is not illegal. Since the shooting of porn itself is not illegal, the government looks for loopholes. But that can happen regardless of where you're shooting, even if it's in California. We know this because of prosecutions against other pornographers who did film their content in the state of California. Plus, California is definitely not the only state where porn is produced. A whole lot of porn, like BangBros and many of the RealityKings scenes, are filmed in Florida, which is, ironically, also the same state that convicted Max Hardcore. alba96 asked if it is legal to shoot porn in New York, when I think that either New York or New Jersey is where the scenes for AdultDoorway are all shot. While I wouldn't suggest operating a porn studio if you live in, let's say, the town from Footloose, you could still get away with doing it as long as you're careful about it, and don't across any pesky moralists complaining about "community standards," whatever they are.
Chloe Temple Interview
Posted - Dec 9 2008 : 1:04AM
