"The first thing we do, let’s kill all the lawyers!"
-- Shakespeare: King Henry the Sixth, Part II
Even before the days of the Bard, lawyers have been controversial characters. While it’s easy to make fun or even despise them, the tune changes when you actually need one.
If you’re going to be in this business, you need one.
"While it's easy to make fun or even despise them, the tune changes when you actually need one [a lawyer]. If you're going to be in this business, you need one." |
We all would love to have the thousands of dollars it requires to retain legal counsel. In a perfect world, legal advice would be free. Sure, there are lawyers that defend clients who have little or no money but you only get that kind of lawyer after you’ve been charged with a crime.
We want lawyers who will keep us from being charged in the first place. We want lawyers that will show us how to be legal and stay legal. We want lawyers who will protect our interests for little or no money. There is no such lawyer. These individuals spend many years and untold amounts of cash to get their degrees. They study hard and obtain a specialized skill. They charge a lot and they should. What they do can save your business and sometimes your life.
Therein lies the rub.
You are a newbie adult webmaster. You don’t have a lot of money. You can’t afford a lawyer. You’re building your adult website so that someday you will have a lot of dough. Yet you still need legal advice. What do you do?
We at Cozy believe that the best legal advice comes from a legal authority, namely a lawyer specializing in adult content and/or intellectual property. It couldn’t hurt to have one that knows something about business and tax law either.
Just the same, we’re realistic. Most of you are individuals with little to invest in legal counsel. No matter how many times we tell you to consult a lawyer, we know you’re probably going to go ahead and do what you want. That’s the reason for this article. We want to point you to sources and sites that will help you do your business without getting into trouble.
Model releases, Warning page text, 2257 information, theses are some of the many forms an adult webmaster should have. One can write their own statements and create their own forms but wouldn’t it be better if you had access to forms that were actually written by a lawyer? Lawyer AJ Comparetto has a list of free, downloadable forms that you can use on your adult website. Some of the many he offers are forms covering: 2257, Warning page text, Music license for adult video, Agreements for independent contractors, Trademark forms and a host of others. You can locate these forms at:
Adult Site Law
http://www.adultsitelaw.com/forms.html
Untitled Page
Lawrence Walters is hot. Maybe it’s that cute smile; maybe it’s the blonde hair. Whatever it is he’s the sexiest adult lawyer in the adult Internet entertainment industry. He’s also a righteous dude. He’s written and still writes scores of informative articles just for adult webmasters. His advice is perceptive, detailed and solid. What’s even better is that he gives these bits of gold to you for no cost. You can find Lawrence’s articles on many adult resource sites including Cozy Frog and Cozy Academy. Even better, you can find them linked from his webmaster page:
Free Speech Law
http://www.freespeechlaw.com/webmasters.php3
Most adult webmasters are self-educated. Anyone can benefit from a little research into matters concerning the legality of adult content. Even if you’ve got a lawyer on retainer, it never hurts to familiarize yourself with this very important subject. You want to know where to go and who to turn to and Cozy understands this. That’s why we have Legal information, lessons and resources linked prominently on Cozy sites. You can find them quickly by visiting the links below:
Cozy Frog Legal Guide
http://www.cozyfrog.com/guides/10-legal-help.aspx
Cozy Frog Legal Services Listings
http://www.cozyfrog.com/listings/026-legal-services.aspx
Cozy Academy Legal Primer
http://www.cozyfrog.com/academy/09-legal-primer.aspx
Every state, every region, every country of the world has their own set of laws covering the enforcement of issues dealing with obscenity. It would be swell if we could list a link to every law or discussion of law from every country, region or state, we can’t. Here are just a few:
US Obscenity Statutes By State
http://moralityinmedia.org/nolc/index.htm?statutesIndex.htm
UK Obscenity Law
http://yourrights.org/your-rights/chapters/the-right-of-free-expression/...
Article on Cyber-Obscenity Law In Japan
http://www.lex-electronica.org/articles/v3l/busuki.html
Discussion of Obscenity Provisional Law In Malawi
http://www.article19.org/docimages/760.htm#PROVS
The above links are but a smidgen of the vast resources covering legal matters/adult content available on the web. You can research further on your own using your favorite search engine.
Once again, we stress the point that you really MUST consult a lawyer in order to be fully protected from prosecution. This article and these links are provided to you as a service and should in no way be construed as ACTUAL legal guidance. We understand you want free legal advice. We hope you understand that there is no such thing as free legal advice.