http://www.xbiz.com/xml/articles/legal.xml XBIZ - Adult Entertainment Industry News & Business Information 60 en-us Copyright 1996-2012 Adnet Media. All Rights Reserved. XBiz is a registered trademark of Adnet Media Group, Inc. Thu, 9 Feb 2012 03:28:14 -0800 editors@xbiz.com (Adnet Media) http://www.xbiz.com/articles/142993?ln=legal http://www.xbiz.com/articles/142993?ln=legal Most adult entertainment business owners know that distributing sexually explicit materials exposes them to the possibility of prosecution for violation of obscenity laws. But while many know that the risk exists, over the years I have found that most distributors of adult content are generally unfamiliar with the obscenity laws themselves and just what constitutes obscenity. Mon, 9 Jan 2012 06:00:00 -0800 http://www.xbiz.com/articles/141934?ln=legal http://www.xbiz.com/articles/141934?ln=legal It’s the fall of 2011, and the U.S. unemployment rate is at 9.1 percent and the economy appears too many to be heading back into recession. It is not surprising that President Obama’s approval ratings are in the low 40s and sinking. Because of this many operators of adult entertainment companies are (and frankly should be) beginning to grow concerned about the kind of regulatory environment the industry might face if either of the two current republican frontrunners, Mitt Romney or Rick Perry should become the next occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. Mon, 12 Dec 2011 06:00:00 -0800 http://www.xbiz.com/articles/141193?ln=legal http://www.xbiz.com/articles/141193?ln=legal The recent guilty plea by Escorts.com has ignited interest in the legal issues surrounding the operation of an online escort site. In this two-part blog post, the author will examine real-world examples of the government’s recent resurgence in its crusade against escort advertising directories, followed by an overview of pertinent legal concerns applicable to this business model. Thu, 17 Nov 2011 13:15:00 -0800 http://www.xbiz.com/articles/140838?ln=legal http://www.xbiz.com/articles/140838?ln=legal Adult entertainment companies are increasingly becoming the target of patent rights enforcement. In the last year alone scores of adult entertainment businesses have either been sued for patent infringement or have received letters threatening patent enforcement. Fri, 11 Nov 2011 06:00:00 -0800 http://www.xbiz.com/articles/139530?ln=legal http://www.xbiz.com/articles/139530?ln=legal These days, it seems like barely a week goes by that I do not negotiate or draft an adult content licensing agreement. Wed, 12 Oct 2011 06:00:00 -0700 http://www.xbiz.com/articles/139336?ln=legal http://www.xbiz.com/articles/139336?ln=legal Our law firm is often asked by clients, and potential clients, whether they should designate a DMCA agent for their site, and how to go about doing so. While that is an important first question to ask, particularly for any site that contains material provided by third parties, it is only the beginning of a somewhat complicated analysis leading to a determination of whether a particular website can avail itself of the “safe harbor” protections against copyright infringement claims, as provided by federal law. Regardless of the geographic location of the website involved, compliance with U.S. DMCA safe harbor obligations is becoming essential for global online service providers. Wed, 5 Oct 2011 15:30:00 -0700 http://www.xbiz.com/articles/138401?ln=legal http://www.xbiz.com/articles/138401?ln=legal For several years the adult industry’s legal focus has been on hot button topics like online piracy, and, of course, .XXX. With a Democrat in the White House, adult business owners are understandably less concerned about criminal prosecution than they are about economic survival these days. Because of this, there have been relatively few recent discussions in the industry press about the federal criminal laws known as the 2257 regulations (18 U.S.C. §2257, 18 U.S.C. §2257A and 28 CFR 75 et seq.). Tue, 13 Sep 2011 06:00:00 -0700 http://www.xbiz.com/articles/137854?ln=legal http://www.xbiz.com/articles/137854?ln=legal Last month, days after Kimberly Kupps was arrested on 13 obscenity counts for content distributed over the Internet, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd declared war on the manufacturing and distribution of porn in his county. Thu, 25 Aug 2011 06:45:00 -0700 http://www.xbiz.com/articles/137838?ln=legal http://www.xbiz.com/articles/137838?ln=legal With words similar to those, Paul Revere ushered in a revolution that transformed the face of a nation. Similarly, on June 7, Cal/OSHA changed the shape of this industry’s future which might ultimately lead to a revolution in adult entertainment. I was able to attend the meeting and even tweeted the discussions from the meeting live via my Twitter account. As it has been reported, the turnout was strong with numerous industry people in attendance representing all aspects of the industry. Wed, 24 Aug 2011 06:00:00 -0700