A friend of mine wants to make a porno video. What is the legal things he must do for this?
Based on my VERY limited photography experience I would think he needs:
Copyright/contract form (signed by the models)
Adult Material Consent/Release forms (signed by the models)
Proof of Age forms/copies of proof etc.
All the usual work forms- tax, etc.
Anything else?
Someone will probably beat me to this, but I’m going to say:
“A LAWYER IN THE PLACE HE IS FILMING, WILLING TO SAY IT IS LEGAL WHERE HE IS DOING THE FILIMG”… and of course a lawyer for the contract and copyright law issues BioHazard has already alluded to.
You also need to tell ME where it is so I can watch …er observe any form of illegal activity that might deserve closer scrutiny… 
I understand that it has become SOP for actors and actresses to show up for porn shoots with proof of a recent negative HIV test in hand. I believe that it is often necessary for the test to be the PCR-DNA test in addition to the “regular” one. According to a couple websites that I perused prior to posting this, the PCR test can supposedly detect HIV in a person within a couple weeks of infection, opposed to a number of months for the more common tests you generally get in a regular doctor’s office–perhaps somebody with real medical training will stop by and elaborate on this. Keep in mind, getting this test done isn’t a law or anything, just something that is considered proper procedure. I’ve heard Ron Jeremy and a few other people who are prominent in the wonderful world of porn talk about this, and they seem to regard this testing rule pretty seriously. Unfortunately, I can’t post links to back up my claim–naked people and dildos and all that, you know. However, if you put porn DNA HIV test into Google, you will get a number of positive hits. Be warned–the couple sites I checked out link to others which probably have content unsuitable for a “less-than-mature audience.”
Also, while looking for books on pornography (but not pornography itself) for some school projects a couple months ago, I found a couple how-to books at Amazon. You may want to inform your friend about their existence. I didn’t get the how-to books for myself, but I’m sure the fact that they’re out there would interest your would-be pornographer friend.
Good luck to your friend in his or her endeavor!
–Mephisto, who is not a member of either the medical or pornographic communities.
That must be a pretty close friend 
Anyway, I believe you need an adult film permit.
good luck getting one of those.
Adult film permit? A long time ago I looked into it for photography and only the ones I listed in my OP were necessary. I guess video is different. I’m going to hit Google.
Oh and ANY friend is a close friend if they aggree to share the profits…
This is all I could find so far, can’t post a link because its to an Adult Webmaster Resource site:
There’s an organization for adult webmasters that provides info that would probably be useful to you:
This link does not lead to any pornographic images (on the first page, anyway) but there is explicit discussion of topics like making money from sex. So beware.
There are also sites online for adult photographers and models that would deal with your issues, but ynot has a lot of legal advice.
I screwed up that url. But that prevents any direct linking issues anyway. Just make “ynotmaster” plural and you’re there.
Perhaps this FAQ will prove helpful for your quest.
http://www.rame.net/faq/
BioHazard, there should be some books on amazon.com for this sort of thing. e.g.
* 1-2-3 Be a Porn Star! A Step-By-Step Guide to the Adult Sex Industry -- Ana Loria; Paperback
* Pornstar -- Ian Gittler; Hardcover
* How to Become a Porn Director: Making Amateur Adult Films -- Nick Ryder; PaperbackThanks for the refs, handy, but why buy a book when I’m sure the net has tons of free resources? Also I doubt if the local library has any of those books. I will tell my friend about them though.
BTW I think I’ve found all the info I need so far, I am now currently trying to hunt down examples of the legal forms and contracts, etc.
Here’s something interesting I just learned. According to the law, producing a porno is considered pandering (pimping) if either or both of the people in it ENJOY IT!
Don’t you just love the law?
Before anyone screams CITE!, here ya go:
Well it’s a relief to know that every porno I’ve ever seen has been well within the boundaries of the law in that regard.
(thrust thrust thrust)
(sigh)
(thrust thrust thrust)
Another update, federal law allows the filming of any type of porno other than (of course) children. Selling or showing it has many other laws. They can get producers, however, for transporting them accross state lines.
So there are no dopers that ever was involved in the porn industry? I hardly belive that!
“So there are no dopers that ever was involved in the porn industry?”
Sure, there are some on the board, or some at least some who said they were.
Well, where are they?
Australia.