As Black Widow Media’s head of sales, Lisa Radamaker keeps tabs on that company’s domestic releases, but needs to maintain records on John Thompson’s “German Goo Girls,” a hardcore line from Germany that Black Widow distributes in the United States.
“Because releasing European model information might violate the model’s privacy [in Europe],” Radamaker told XBiz, “all information companies receive from European producers walks a fine line.”
“Everybody is waiting to see how the feds proceed,” said Mark Thaler, chief of digital distribution for PurePlay, which has handled several foreign companies, “and the question has always been, ‘Does complying with U.S. laws break European ones?’”
Radamaker noted that Private issued a press release from its Barcelona headquarters stating that it would not supply model information to U.S. companies. “I guess they’re big enough to do that,” she said. “But smaller companies want to keep U.S. business.”
An executive in an American company that distributes foreign content stateside said that, in general, the larger foreign companies maintain scrupulous records that would pertain to 2257 compliance, and often go through U.S. model releases with a fine-tooth comb to find holes in the data.
The executive, who wished to remain anonymous to avoid “more than our fair share of DOJ scrutiny” said that his company’s records met 2257 standards “but European companies are waiting to see how [Justice] hits American companies.”
Maxxx Beaver, an adult content producer and blogger working in New Brunswick, said that it is always a good idea to act in Canada according to U.S. laws, but the safest thing would be for U.S. companies to move north.
“In general, things are better in Canada,” Beaver told XBiz.
