# Why is prostitution illegal but making a porn movie is legal? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 10, 2003, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal-but-making-a-porn-movie-is-legal/154045 "2003-02-10T05:33:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Goldschlager](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ea666f/32.png) [@Goldschlager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Goldschlager)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal-but-making-a-porn-movie-is-legal/154045/1 "2003-02-10T05:33:29Z")
Why is prostitution illegal but it’s legal to make a porn video? Would prostitution be legal if the two parties videotaped it? Remember, some porn producers, like Max Hardcore, have sex with the women they pay to be in their movies. ---
**Author:** ![ultrafilter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/3d9bf3/32.png) [@ultrafilter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ultrafilter)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 5:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal-but-making-a-porn-movie-is-legal/154045/2 "2003-02-10T05:39:23Z")
Because porn stars are being paid to act, not to have sex. The fact that that acting involves having sex is irrelevant in the eyes of the law. Welcome to the boards. I hope your stay is enjoyable. You ought to know that with the size and traffic of this board, a lot of topics have been covered before. This is one of them. It’s generally considered good etiquette to use the search function to find previous threads before starting a question. ---
**Author:** ![jb\_007clone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/91b2a8/32.png) [@jb\_007clone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jb_007clone)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal-but-making-a-porn-movie-is-legal/154045/3 "2003-02-10T05:48:31Z")
Well in Canada I know that prostitution is not illegal, solicitation is. I.e. someone can’t go on the street and sell their body. Also I remember from law class that there is some clause that says only the person selling their body can benefit, so no pimping. ---
**Author:** ![Goldschlager](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ea666f/32.png) [@Goldschlager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Goldschlager)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal-but-making-a-porn-movie-is-legal/154045/4 "2003-02-10T05:56:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ultrafilter \* > \*\*Because porn stars are being paid to act, not to have sex. The fact that that acting involves having sex is irrelevant in the eyes of the law. > \*\* The problem is that I’ve already seen that explanation on another message board but no one could back it up with actual citation of a law. And then it brings one to the question, why don’t Johns just pay prostitutes to have sex and do a little acting? Wouldn’t role-playing qualify? Would the law really be that easy to circumvent? There has to be more to this than just the explanation you provided. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal-but-making-a-porn-movie-is-legal/154045/5 "2003-02-10T05:59:54Z")
It’s **art** Goddamnit! **Art! Art! Art!** It’s only by the sheerest chance that it reminds you of junk when you look at it. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 7:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal-but-making-a-porn-movie-is-legal/154045/6 "2003-02-10T07:24:48Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Goldschlager \* > \*\*The problem is that I’ve already seen that explanation on another message board but no one could back it up with actual citation of a law. > > And then it brings one to the question, why don’t Johns just pay prostitutes to have sex and do a little acting? Wouldn’t role-playing qualify? Would the law really be that easy to circumvent? There has to be more to this than just the explanation you provided. \*\* For some reason, I think I remember hearing years and years ago, that it has to do with being video taped and published. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aeb1de/32.png) [@The\_Calculus\_of\_Logic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Calculus_of_Logic)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal-but-making-a-porn-movie-is-legal/154045/7 "2003-02-10T07:36:45Z")
because thats the way its always been and no one is powerful enough or cares enough to change the system. ---
**Author:** ![DarrenS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/977dab/32.png) [@DarrenS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DarrenS)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal-but-making-a-porn-movie-is-legal/154045/8 "2003-02-10T07:58:49Z")
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=82797](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=82797) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=47397](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=47397) [http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3935](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=3935) ---
**Author:** ![G.Cornelius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b782af/32.png) [@G.Cornelius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/G.Cornelius)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal-but-making-a-porn-movie-is-legal/154045/9 "2003-02-10T13:17:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ultrafilter \* > \*\*Because porn stars are being paid to act, not to have sex. The fact that that acting involves having sex is irrelevant in the eyes of the law. > > Welcome to the boards. I hope your stay is enjoyable. You ought to know that with the size and traffic of this board, a lot of topics have been covered before. This is one of them. It’s generally considered good etiquette to use the search function to find previous threads before starting a question. \*\* That seems like a fine line to me. Instead of buying a movie, why should I not pay for a live performance with audience participation - what is the difference? ---
**Author:** ![ShibbOleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@ShibbOleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShibbOleth)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal-but-making-a-porn-movie-is-legal/154045/10 "2003-02-10T15:16:29Z")
Casting Plus you’re probably not zoned for the live performance. ---
**Author:** ![handy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b5a626/32.png) [@handy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handy)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal-but-making-a-porn-movie-is-legal/154045/11 "2003-02-10T16:32:39Z")
Becuz, to make a legal porno flick in the usa you have to have porno film permits, see? Now only a couple (?) of cities in the usa allow you to purchase said permits. No permit, no porno flick. Easy. Getting paid to act? I wish they could act. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal-but-making-a-porn-movie-is-legal/154045/12 "2003-02-10T16:39:54Z")
It’s not so much the act that people want to legislate against, it’s the sale. That’s why porn shops get run out of town, but online porn is becoming increasingly available. ---
**Author:** ![Jdeforrest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/49beb7/32.png) [@Jdeforrest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jdeforrest)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal-but-making-a-porn-movie-is-legal/154045/13 "2003-02-10T16:58:20Z")
I can just envision a prostitute calculating tax 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Bricker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/977dab/32.png) [@Bricker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bricker)\ **Post date:** [February 10, 2003, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-prostitution-illegal-but-making-a-porn-movie-is-legal/154045/14 "2003-02-10T17:00:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by handy \* > \*\*Becuz, to make a legal porno flick in the usa you have to have porno film permits, see? Now only a couple (?) of cities in the usa allow you to purchase said permits. No permit, no porno flick. Easy. > > Getting paid to act? I wish they could act. \*\* Cite? I am absolutely unaware of any such thing as a “porno film permit,” and am looking forward to learning something new. - Rick