How do websites like Mr Skin stay in business?

[Little_Nemo]

Mr Skin is an adult website that features a large archive of downloadable excerpts of nude scenes from mainstream movies.

I’m assuming they aren’t paying all these various studios for the right to archive these excerpts. There’s no apparent attempt being made to present these as parodies or reviews or any other common fair use purpose. So why isn’t this website (and others like it) being shut down by studio lawyers?

[Chronos]

At a guess, they’re probably going by a Fair Use theory of “brief excerpts” and “review or criticism”. In a mainstream movie, the skin parts are going to be a very small fraction of the whole work, and they probably have text to the effect of “This is a very nice view of Sleazella Starlet’s hot ta-tas” accompanying the clips, which might qualify as “criticism”.

[Mahaloth]

Anyone a subscriber? Are the clips all less than 30 seconds?

[Little_Nemo]

I used to be a subscriber. The clips were full scenes, most lasting longer than thirty seconds.

[Little_Nemo]

In a mainstream movie, the skin parts are going to be a very small fraction of the whole work

True, but in some cases a nude scene can have major significance. Consider Swordfish for example: there was probably a significant portion of the audience who saw the movie just to see Halle Berry’s nude scene - it was certainly widely mentioned at the time of the movie’s release. By offering the opportunity to see just that nude scene, Mr Skin probably had an effect on the number of people who rented the movie.

[Sage_Rat]

My guess would be that most porn sites are small enough independent businesses that they simply haven’t the spare money to afford tracking down and prosecuting everyone in the world who’s going to rip off their public stuff. Eventually, perhaps there will be enough conglomerating to result in one or two overarching companies or form something like the RIAA, but even then it would be pretty difficult to take to court since even if they do, it will just end up that some Russian company will move in to fill the vacuum and you’re back where you began, except out a lot of change in legal fees.

[toadspittle]

Site That Bills Itself as a Movie Reviewer Finds That Sex Sells (Published 2007)

Given that Mr. Skin is in the business of selling access to copyrighted material without permission, it might seem logical that the company would be mired in legal challenges, but it is not. Mr. Skin bills itself as a movie-review site — though one that assesses only starlet nudity — so Mr. McBride argues that the clips can be shown under the fair-use doctrine, which permits excerpting copyrighted material for the purpose of criticism.

**That legal defense turns out to be moot, though, because the movie studios not only tolerate Mr. McBride but also court him by sending advance screeners of DVD releases.
**
“The movie companies aren’t stupid,” Mr. McBride said. “I’m a guest on radio shows at least 300 times a year as the expert on celebrity nudity in film. If I’m on the radio talking about a movie like ‘Ask the Dust,’ and telling guys, ‘You’ve got to check it out: Salma Hayek has a full-frontal at the 33-minute mark,’ it’s going to make guys want to rent or buy the movie.”

More than 75 movie companies — including Universal, Fox, Paramount and Lionsgate — regularly send advance DVDs to Mr. McBride’s company. And his subscribers buy hundreds of DVDs every day, said Brian Sokel, director of marketing at TLAvideo.com, which sells DVDs on the site. (He declined to provide precise figures.)

[bordelond]

No such thing as bad publicity.

[Santo_Rugger]

@Sage Rat

My guess would be that most porn sites are small enough independent businesses that they simply haven’t the spare money to afford tracking down and prosecuting everyone in the world who’s going to rip off their public stuff. Eventually, perhaps there will be enough conglomerating to result in one or two overarching companies or form something like the RIAA, but even then it would be pretty difficult to take to court since even if they do, it will just end up that some Russian company will move in to fill the vacuum and you’re back where you began, except out a lot of change in legal fees.

The clips aren’t from porn, they’re from regular movies. Haven’t you ever seen Knocked Up?