Expert: Dan Pepper - 3/10/2009

Question
Hi, thank you for your time in advance.
Me and a colleague have decided to start our own Adult website. We are planning on making a monthly pay website. My questions are:
1. Can you recommend any questions we should ask a lawyer when we meet with one?
2. what are some good ways in hiring talent
3. how do we get into contact with a web designer?
4. do you know how a payed website works? such as how we collect the money and legal stuff such as those
5. Do we need to create our own production company, and if so how?

I understand this is a very long question and appreciate your time.

Answer
Zack,

Some of your questions require answers that are a bit too involved to answer here, but here are my thoughts:

1.  Can you recommend any questions we should ask a lawyer when we meet with one?

The best question to ask is what sort of experience he/she has representing adult industry businesses.  This is not an area that an attorney can just "dabble" in or figure out on the fly.  There are far too many issues and laws to understand.  A good attorney will also be able to speak with you about the business side of the industry, and not merely speak to the legal end.  The best legal advice in the world does you no good if you can't get your business profitable, so ask about what trends the attorney believes he/she sees in the business, how they may affect your plans.

2.  What are some good ways in hiring talent.

This is a pretty broad question, and it depends upon the nature of your content (e.g. do you want to film amateurs?).  There are a number of good agencies out there, but of course, you will pay more going through them.  The key is understanding what questions to ask the talent (as well as what NOT to ask) and to spot red flags in their answers.

3.  How do we get into contact with a web designer?

I know of a few that work with adult businesses.  Contact me for their names and contact info.

4.  Do you know how a payed website works? such as how we collect the money and legal stuff such as those.

Yes, but there are different types of pay sites.  If you are accepting credit cards through your site, you'll need to work with a payment processor like CCBill, who work with adult businesses (most processors don't).  The "legal stuff" is an extremely broad question - you have to think about copyright, trademark, website terms of use, obscenity issues, 18 USC 2257 (and its regulations) compliance, prostitution issues (depending on your jurisdiction and how you plan on filming your talent), model releases, and more.

5.  Do we need to create our own production company, and if so how?

I think the question you're really asking is whether you need to form a business entity like an LLC or corporation for your business.  In a word - YES.  It is foolishness not to protect yourself and your personal assets by failing to form an entity.

Hopefully this gives you some things to think about.  If you have further questions, feel free to contact me through www.adultwebsitelawyer.com.