Deplatforming – The Looming Threat to Adult Entertainment
In the blink of an eye, former President Trump was gone from social media. Facebook and Twitter suspended his accounts for violating their community guidelines. His opponents cheered and his...
View ArticleYou’ve Been Served! – Dealing with Subpoenas
Adult business operators are forced to deal with a number of legal hassles. One of them is getting served with a subpoena seeking information about you, your operation, your finances, or your data....
View ArticleFlame Wars – Legal Concerns with Social Media Posts
Many of us have been tempted to post that snarky comment or call attention to a bad business practice on social media. Perhaps your own business or reputation is being maligned, and your natural...
View ArticleSection 2257 is Back from the Dead with New Ruling
I. Introduction On September 1, 2020 the Third Circuit Court of Appeals issued an opinion in the long-running litigation brought by the Free Speech Coalition, and others, challenging the...
View ArticleTaking Your Strip Club Virtual
Introduction Coronavirus lock-downs are slowly being lifted and businesses are starting to reopen, but it may still be some time before adult clubs are able to operate at full function across the...
View ArticleProtecting Stage Names in the Age of Newcomers
Online adult entertainment is booming in these otherwise difficult times. Traffic and profits are up as so many of us try to fill the days at home and away from each other. The new gold rush has...
View ArticleCard Associations Facing Pressure to Terminate Adult Sites
As part of the aggressive campaign to tie adult websites to sex trafficking, various anti-porn activists are pressuring the major credit card associations to stop doing business with the adult...
View ArticleGuidelines on Sponsored Social Media Posts
Guest Post by Bobby Desmond, Esq. Many adult entertainment companies hire models, performers, and other so-called “influencers” to review, advertise, market, or otherwise promote their goods and...
View ArticleWar on Porn 4.0
You can tell it’s election season, when radical politicians start banging the drum for another war on something. Recently, four Republican Congressmen wrote a hysterical letter to the Department of...
View ArticleAdult Content Production and Sex Trafficking Laws
For years, opponents of the adult entertainment industry have attempted to link pornography to sex trafficking. In 2015, the National Center on Sexual Exploitation (formerly known as “Morality in...
View ArticleWoodhull Panel – FOSTA & Internet Censorship
The Woodhull Freedom Foundation is the lead Plaintiff in the lawsuit challenging FOSTA. Its legal challenge started in the spring of 2018, when the organization began to struggle with its online...
View ArticleWhat’s In A Name?
Adult business operators often struggle with the legal complexities of trademarks, trade names, fictitious names, and corporate names. This is particularly true for amateur performers, producers, or...
View ArticleCongress Considering Deep Fakes Law
The technological ability to create convincing “deep fakes” is getting some attention in Congress. The adult entertainment industry has already struggled with deep fake porn, and the unsettled...
View ArticleTexas Embraces FOSTA
Over a year ago, Congress passed the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (“FOSTA”) and the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (“SESTA”) in a confused attempt at combatting sex...
View ArticleA Year with FOSTA
Are we having fun yet? FOSTA/SESTA (“FOSTA”) has been around for a full year now and has managed to wreak significant havoc on the Internet. Sold to Congress as a law to combat “sex trafficking,” FOSTA...
View Article30 Years of Defending Free Speech
30 years ago today, I received my license to practice law. I devoted the next 3 decades to defending constitutional rights – especially the right to freedom of speech. It has been an honor and a...
View ArticleFilming Sex in Public
I. Introduction Increasingly, our law firm is asked about the legality of filming nudity or explicit sex scenes in public. Recent obscenity charges filed against amateur adult content producers in...
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The Slants Case – What it Means for Sexually-Explicit Trademarks
On June 19, 2017, SCOTUS decided Matal v. Tam, which could open the floodgates for registration of previously-rejected, sexually-explicit trademarks. The Tam case dealt with the attempt to register...
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Don’t Lose Your Designated DMCA Agent
On December 1, 2016, the U.S. Copyright Office went live with its new DMCA Agent database, and revamped the procedures for designating an agent for receipt of copyright infringement notices. For any...
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VISA Cracking Down on Shell Billing Companies with New Restrictions
There was a time not so long ago when adult website operators created “billing companies” in favorable jurisdictions, whose sole purpose was to bill customers for services provided by the operator, and...
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