North Carlina Porn Laws

[Sybrana]

I'm trying to figure out if filming porn in NC is legal. I've done a lot of research, but it seems to be a gray area. I called one lawyer, and he couldn't really give me a straight answer either so I thought I would give this a try. I know Adam & Eve do adult videos but they may shoot in a different state. I don't know.

There's a talent agency in Florida that say they work with producers in Charlotte and Winston-Salem, NC. I emailed them about it and haven't heard anything back.
I emailed the NC Film Office, and they didn't have anything either. There's just not that much info out there. I did find this though: https://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_14/GS_14-190.1.html This talks about obscenity but from what I've gathered from research obscenity would be more like beastiality child porn, literal torture etc. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

 

[AlmostThere]

The material linked is pretty clear.

 

[Just Blue]

I'm trying to figure out if filming porn in NC is legal. I've done a lot of research, but it seems to be a gray area. I called one lawyer, and he couldn't really give me a straight answer either so I thought I would give this a try. I know Adam & Eve do adult videos but they may shoot in a different state. I don't know.

There's a talent agency in Florida that say they work with producers in Charlotte and Winston-Salem, NC. I emailed them about it and haven't heard anything back.
I emailed the NC Film Office, and they didn't have anything either. There's just not that much info out there. I did find this though: https://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_14/GS_14-190.1.html This talks about obscenity but from what I've gathered from research obscenity would be more like beastiality child porn, literal torture etc. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

Producers, Talent Agencies and File Offices can not give you legal advice.

Contact the NC Bar Association and get a referral or five for Entertainment Attorneys. Call the office and make an appointment. You will pay for their legal expertise.

https://www.ncbar.org/

 

[Sybrana]

I would tend to agree but what determines whether the material lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value? By that statute every Adam & Eve store is illegal, and I know of at least 5 within 2 hours of me as well as the A & E warehouse in Carboro NC where it's distributed. That's not counting all the little mom and pop shops scattered around. I have 2 5 miles away from me. So, are they just not enforcing it? Here's an article that I ran across: Is It Illegal to Make Pornography in North Carolina?North Carolina Criminal Law (unc.edu)

 

[Sybrana]

Producers, Talent Agencies and File Offices can not give you legal advice.

Contact the NC Bar Association and get a referral or five for Entertainment Attorneys. Call the office and make an appointment. You will pay for their legal expertise.

https://www.ncbar.org/

Now that's something I didn't think about and good advice. Thanks! Some where I seen I should see a criminal attorney. The Bar Association makes sense.

 

[quincy]

I'm trying to figure out if filming porn in NC is legal. I've done a lot of research, but it seems to be a gray area. I called one lawyer, and he couldn't really give me a straight answer either so I thought I would give this a try. I know Adam & Eve do adult videos but they may shoot in a different state. I don't know.

There's a talent agency in Florida that say they work with producers in Charlotte and Winston-Salem, NC. I emailed them about it and haven't heard anything back.
I emailed the NC Film Office, and they didn't have anything either. There's just not that much info out there. I did find this though: https://www.ncleg.net/EnactedLegislation/Statutes/HTML/BySection/Chapter_14/GS_14-190.1.html This talks about obscenity but from what I've gathered from research obscenity would be more like beastiality child porn, literal torture etc. Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

The seminal case on obscenity is Roth v. United States, 354 US 476 (1957) (See: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/354/476/) followed by Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15 (1973) (See: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/413/15/).

You will want the advice and direction of an (entertainment law) lawyer in North Carolina. A personal review of your film production plans will be necessary to determine if your proposed film(s) will cross any legal lines (e.g., from pornography into obscenity).

In addition, you need to check all of the local laws in the areas where you intend to film to see if there are zoning ordinances that restrict or ban production of adult films.

Distribution is another area that requires careful attention.

And, it should go without saying, working with minors or even those who appear to be minors is strictly regulated.

 

[Sybrana]

I checked out that link for Miller v. California and that's a lot of reading when you start clinking links. I'll work on that tomorrow.

I went to the link that Just Blue posted at the bar website and went to the find a lawyer section and it doesn't even list entertainment lawyers. I'll just have to call Monday.

It will be all internet content and nooooooo minors! There was a case here in NC where a photographer took pics for an escort website, and he went to jail just for taking pics. Of course, that was for an escort site but, he was guilty by association and done a year, I think. So, I want to make sure I know what I'm getting into!

Thanks for the advice. I at least know what I need to do now.

@Just Blue that cat looks awfully comfy laying there! I'm a cat guy myself. Thank you all for the help!

 

[quincy]

I checked out that link for Miller v. California and that's a lot of reading when you start clinking links. I'll work on that tomorrow.

I went to the link that Just Blue posted at the bar website and went to the find a lawyer section and it doesn't even list entertainment lawyers. I'll just have to call Monday.

It will be all internet content and nooooooo minors! There was a case here in NC where a photographer took pics for an escort website, and he went to jail just for taking pics. Of course, that was for an escort site but, he was guilty by association and done a year, I think. So, I want to make sure I know what I'm getting into!

Thanks for the advice. I at least know what I need to do now.

@Just Blue that cat looks awfully comfy laying there! I'm a cat guy myself. Thank you all for the help!

You are very smart to be looking at the legalities before moving ahead with your proposed plans. People who come to this forum often come only after they find themselves in legal hot water, which is not the ideal way to operate.

Large law firms often can be the best places to locate lawyers specializing in sports and entertainment law (which are business law specialties). There are several entertainment law attorneys practicing in North Carolina.

Good luck.

P.S. Owls are pretty cool, too.

 

[adjusterjack]

determines whether the material lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value?

Not easily.

US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart in Jacobellis v. Ohio (1064):

"I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description ["hard-core pornography"], and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it,"

Mores change as culture changes. What's legal today could be illegal tomorrow and vice versa.

 

[quincy]

Not easily.

US Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart in Jacobellis v. Ohio (1064):

"I shall not today attempt further to define the kinds of material I understand to be embraced within that shorthand description ["hard-core pornography"], and perhaps I could never succeed in intelligibly doing so. But I know it when I see it,"

Mores change as culture changes. What's legal today could be illegal tomorrow and vice versa.

Not quite that long ago. 1964 not 1064.

 

[adjusterjack]

Well, I was only two years off for the Norman Conquest.

 

[Bali Hai Again]

Not quite that long ago. 1964 not 1064.

Ahh the good old days, when we watched and listened to the “longhaired” Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show and morality in the US supposedly began to decline.

 

[quincy]

Well, I was only two years off for the Norman Conquest.

True. And, afterall, what’s a couple, or 900, years in the grand scheme of things. Haha.

 

[adjusterjack]

True. And, afterall, what’s a couple, or 900, years in the grand scheme of things. Haha.

My mother used to say "In a hundred years none of this will matter."

Ahh the good old days, when we watched and listened to the “longhaired” Beatles on the Ed Sullivan Show and morality in the US supposedly began to decline.

If you think morals started declining in the 1960s, look up the Roaring Twenties. And the Victorian Era wasn't as prudish as one has been led to believe.

 

[Bali Hai Again]

My mother used to say "In a hundred years none of this will matter."

A former boss of mine said that to me a long time ago.

If you think morals started declining in the 1960s, look up the Roaring Twenties. And the Victorian Era wasn't as prudish as one has been led to believe.

Yup, it’s subjective and relative to “what you are now is where you were when”. Times change, people are pretty much the same through the process.