Expert: Dan Pepper - 5/17/2008

Question
Hi Dan,

I was hoping you can give me a rough ballpark estimate on how much it would cost to hire a lawyer to deal with legal issues on start-up pay website?

Let me give you a brief break down of what I'm planning on doing:

Country: U.S.A

Type of website: No simulated sex or real sex. Foreplay only, which will consist mainly of fondling of breasts, buttocks, and others. This will be done by a man. Also, oil and sex toys will be used.

Legal Questions: During the start-up of a website such as the one I am planning-not sure if it's hardcore or softcore since there is no penetration or oral-there are some things that have to resolved. Some of the ones I know are:

-Contracts/model releases (is it valid outside of CA?)
-Trademarks
-Copyrights
-DMCA
-Privacy policies
-Piracies
-How you can shoot
-Permits for shooting
-Zoning laws

I'm sure there are more. What am I missing? What are they and how much would it cost to deal with them all in starting a website like the one I have in mind?

Thank you, Dan.

Answer
Depending upon the jurisdiction you are in, you may still need to deal with local obscenity ordinances and statutes.  You should also strongly consider forming a business entity for your production company, which, among other things, shields you from personal financial liability for business debts.  If you are hiring a web designer or web design firm to build your website, you should be thinking about crafting a strong website development agreement.  You may also need to figure in workers' compensation insurance for your talent.

Legal fees can typically run between $2,500 and $5,000, depending upon several factors of each individual situation.