Just because you’re going to be providing products and services to people that will bring them pleasure, excitement and happiness, doesn’t mean that the adult industry is not very serious. There are laws that are setup to protect models, visitors, and more importantly, yourself. We’re certainly not lawyers, and our advice should not be a subsitute for actual legal counsel, but consider it more of a brief overview of laws and standards you need to implement to have continued success.
18 U.S.C. 2257 – This is the big one. Familiarize yourself very well with this law because you will have to adhere to it very strictly.
(a) Whoever produces any book, magazine, periodical, film, videotape, or other matter which—
- contains one or more visual depictions made after November 1, 1990 of actual sexually explicit conduct; and
- is produced in whole or in part with materials which have been mailed or shipped in interstate or foreign commerce, or is shipped or transported or is intended for shipment or transportation in interstate or foreign commerce;
shall create and maintain individually identifiable records pertaining to every performer portrayed in such a visual depiction.
(b) Any person to whom subsection (a) applies shall, with respect to every performer portrayed in a visual depiction of actual sexually explicit conduct—
- ascertain, by examination of an identification document containing such information, the performer’s name and date of birth, and require the performer to provide such other indicia of his or her identity as may be prescribed by regulations;
- ascertain any name, other than the performer’s present and correct name, ever used by the performer including maiden name, alias, nickname, stage, or professional name; and
- record in the records required by subsection (a) the information required by paragraphs (1) and (2) of this subsection and such other identifying information as may be prescribed by regulation.
(c) Any person to whom subsection (a) applies shall maintain the records required by this section at his business premises, or at such other place as the Attorney General may by regulation prescribe and shall make such records available to the Attorney General for inspection at all reasonable times.
In a nutshell:
If you have dirty pictures on your website, you need to maintain documentation that anyone in those pictures are 18 or older.
Regardless of whether you bought the content, stole the content, or created it yourself, you need to have access to the documentation.
The documentation is usually a model release, scan of the model’s Driver’s License or state issued ID card and a photo of the model posing with that ID. You will need to have this information available for any law enforcement official who requests it. If you’re buying the content, the provider will make this access available to you. You will post text on your website, that includes a disclaimer and the contact information for your Custodian of Records. They typically look like this::
18 U.S.C. Section 2257 Record Keeping Information
In compliance with United States Code, Title 18, Section 2257, all models, actors, actresses and other persons that appear in any visual depiction of actual or simulated sexual conduct appearing otherwise contained at www.domainname.com were over the age of eighteen (18) years at the time of the creation of such depictions. Some of the aforementioned depictions appearing or otherwise contained at the site contain only visual depictions of actual sexually explicit conduct made before July 3rd, 1995, and, as such, are exempt from the requirements set forth in 18 U.S.C. § 2257 and C.F.R. 75.
The operators of this web site is not the primary producer (as that term is defined in 18 U.S.C. section 2257) of any of the visual content contained within. The original records are kept by the following Custodian of Records:
John Doe
123 state streed
Van Nuys, CA 91405
USA
All external links on www.domainname.com are the responsability of the pointed sites owners respectively since we don\’t have any control over the content of these sites. Please refer to the linked website for any inquiries about subject.
With regard to the remaining depictions of actual sexual conduct appearing or otherwise contained at www.domainname.com, a copy of the records required pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 2257 and C.F.R. 75 are kept at the following location by the Custodians of Records. For any inquiries pertaining to any models/actors/actresses shown on these pages, please contact:
Porn company
123 state streed
Van Nuys, CA 91405
USA
Most of the time, you’ll be buying content and when you do you will recieve the 2257 information from the content producer. If you’re going to produce and create your own content, then you will need to get these documents yourself.