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Dave Clark from web-legal (www.web-legal.com) has volunteered to write this article on legal, licensed content. Dave is one of the most popular suppliers of licensed content on the web.
I get some of my content from Dave and I know why he's so popular-besides probably the largest selection of content available, he has the best customer service I've seen from any company I've ever dealt with, on or off the web.
Heylo There!
It's been awhile since I wrote an article as such, the last time that
I did that was back with the old BBS Magazine "SysOp News and
Cyberworld Report". Since that time, I've been mainly writing web
pages, so please forgive me if I seem a little rusty at this...
(smile!)
What I'm here to talk to you about is the importance of legal content
for your websites. Now, those of you who know me, know that I run a
brokerage for getting web-legal material to webmasters, so this is
something that I _do_ know a bit about... but I'm going to refrain
from turning this into a sales session. This _is_ a very serious
subject.
Content is a "must have" in the adult website business. If you don't
have content, you don't have anything to offer your customers. An
adult website without some content is like a coffee shop without
coffee, or a car dealership without any vehicles for sale. Why on
earth would anyone care to give you money if you don't have something
to offer them?
Now that we've established THAT pretty obvious fact, the next
question that comes to mind is "where do I get it"? Well, there are
actually PLENTY of places to get it.. places that are legal, and
those that aren't. I'll get into that more later.
When you put a page up on the world wide web, wether you are doing so
for the purpose of making money or not, you are exposing yourself in
some fashion to the world. If you put up an adult website, this is
even more obviously so. Because, in addition to the attention that
you seek, you are going to eventually attract the attention of people
that may not be friendly towards you, and the message that you are
attempting to convey.
There are plenty of people out there that have it in for adult
material, and will attempt to make your life miserable for purely
"moralistic" reasons. But, for the purpose of this article, lets
focus on three groups: The Government, People wishing to protect
their interests in their original works, and those wishing to make a
quick buck off of fear.
I'll take on the subject of people looking to protect their interests
first. When the internet first started, it looked to be a wide open
frontier... and people did as they pleased, without regard to the
consequences. This included taking images to put up on their
websites as content from wherever they saw fit... and quite often,
those sources were "questionable" in their legality. But, as the
i-net becomes more and more popular, several people have wandered in,
and much to their chagrin, found that their materials were being used
without their permission. These people range from the guy that
snapped photos of his wife/girlfriend, to amateur and professional
photographers, to the household names like Playboy and Penthouse.
And, they weren't happy about what they saw, either.
Laws over the years have taken a drastic turn in the direction of
protecting the holders of copyrights, and the owners of these
materials used these laws to their advantage. They started to go
after those that had abused their material, demanding at times the
removal of the material, monetary concessions, or other concessions.
If the material that you run comes from a known source, with the
permission of the publisher to use it, you don't have to worry about
this happenstance, because you have already "made peace" with the
only people that CAN harass you in this regard. If you have legal
licenced material, and someone tries to tell you that they own that
material, you simply contact the publisher or the broker that sold
you the material to handle the situation. But, if you do NOT know
the source of the material... then you have a situation that can be
potentially quite expensive and troublesome. This is not good.
Next, we have what I call "lawsuit entrepeneurs".. these are people
that look for sites that they think look like those that do not know
where their material comes from, and they PRETEND to be the
legitimate owners of the material. They threaten, they bluff, and
they will call you every name in the book, tell you that you will go
to jail, that you will be financially ruined, and whatever else that
they think will get you to cough up some money to make them go away.
I call them "lawsuit entrepeneurs" because the favorite weapon to use
in their threats is a lawsuit, usually with a tremendous "monetary
damage" award figure attached. Of course, if you pay them now (one
way or another), then they will be happy to let you go in peace. Of
course they will, because they can't take you to court anyway, as
they do not have the records to prove ownership, either...
There are only two ways to figure out the difference between a
legitimate publisher and a lawsuit entrepeneur... one is to take the
threatener to court, and HOPE that they are just bluffing... the
other is to know where your material came from, and have the REAL
publisher backing you up 100% of the way. With that behind you, no
lawsuit entrepeneur is going to keep up the attack... there are
easier pickings down the road, someone that DIDN'T play legal, and
will roll over some cash to stay "safe"... safe until the NEXT
"entrepeneur" comes along, that is.. or until they are discovered by
the REAL publisher.
It's very important to contact the publisher or broker when you are
contacted by someone claiming to be the owner of material that you
have licensed. If it really IS the publisher, then you need to
make sure that they realize that "this is you", so that they do not
continue to bother you. If it's NOT the publisher, they need to know
that someone is out there claiming ownership to their material, so
that THEY can deal with these people.
One of the most disturbing trends has been the "vigilante copyright
enforcer"... usually someone that has licenced the materials
themselves from the real owner, and now feels that it's their "job"
or "right" to go around, looking for those that have this particular
material online, and harassing them "for the owner". I've seen this
happen before, and since theselicensees do NOT have access to the
records of who has and hasn't licensed something, they tend to end up
harassing people with legitimate licenses, and making the actual
publishers look like temperamental children. This is not good for
anyone.
But, as serious as all of the preceding things are, they all pale in
comparison to "The Government". You see, a lawsuit can only take
away your money and your time... the Government can take away your
freedom.
There are many laws on the books that deal with adult materials, and
the Governments attempts to control it. But the one that we all have
to keep in mind is the "Label Law", usually referred to as 18 USC
2257. This law, in a nutshell, proscribes that all sexually explicit
material produced after it's inception date have records on file at a
known location with a named person so that the government can
doublecheck the records whenever they see fit. This law was
promulgated as an "anti-child pornography" law, which of course,
greased it's way right down the books into law. Who wants to stand
against protecting the children? And that, right there, is a good
part of the reason why you need to pay very close attention to this
law...
Prosecutors know that if you assemble a jury of 12 from a typical
community, and place in front of them an "evil child pornographer",
that they are NOT going to have to work and sweat to get a
conviction. The Government doesn't even NEED to prove that someone
isn't of legal age... all that they need to show is that an "expert"
says that they "feel" that the model in that shot wasn't of legal
age. And guess what? Guess who gets to select the "expert"? Any
takers? (smile!) It's an open and shut case. The prosecutors get to
go home happy that they have rid the world of such a scourge, the
jurors get to go home smug in the fact that they have saved some
children from those evil pedophiles, and the media has a field day
reporting how another "child porn ring"was busted and taken down.
Everyone's happy... everyone, that is, except the poor unlucky stiff
of a webmaster that grabbed some photos from wherever, posted them
on his website, and then found himself declared a child pornographer,
even if he was the type that would have shotgunned a pedophile should
he catch one in a room alone.
And, you want another heartwarming thought? Many states are enacting
laws that require certain classes of criminals to have their
addresses posted in their communities after they finally get out of
prison. Just think how pleasant life will be with everyone thinking
that you are a "child pornographer", and doing what they can to make
your life unpleasant. It doesn't matter if you didn't mean to do it,
those people don't care, you are just a filthy lying child molester
who deserves whatever they want to inflict on you...
There is only ONE defense against this happening. ONE. Period.
That defense is to have access to the records that PROVE how old that
"young looking model" really is. If you can show EVIDENCE that the
model that the "expert witness" says is underage is actually of
legal age at the time of the shoot... well, the government has to
fold up their tent and go home. They have supposition against facts.
Case closed, lets go home. And the nice thing? YOU get to go home,
not to a jail cell. Think about that for a bit.
OK, now that I've lined out the only defense against the ultimate
problem that you might encounter as an adult webmaster, the solution
would seem to be pretty obvious, wouldn't it... just go down and buy
some web-legal content, and you don't have to worry about this, right?
Well, yes, usually.... But...
Wherever you find a human endeavor that does or may make money, you
will find those willing to lie, cheat and steal to make some for
themselves, and this business is no exception. The booming adult
website market, and the increased demand for web-legal content,
has spawned it's own "dark side" industry... those selling content
that does NOT belong to them. It ranges from those that are grabbing
photos from the newsgroups, putting them on CD and selling them as
"web-ready", to those that clone entire products from another
publisher, and fake the paperwork to make it look as if they have
the rights to that material. Some are just hit and run artists,
putting up a nice facade, taking some money, and then folding up
their tents in the night and leaving, usually to return under another
identity later on, so that they can continue to rip others off. If
you buy from these vendors, don't expect any support when someone
comes a knocking at your door with a lawsuit or an arrest warrant...
they are long gone, either before your problem arose, or as soon as
they find out that their bluff is up. And guess who is left holding
the bag?
How do you tell a legit publisher/broker from the fake?
Unfortunately, you can't pass a magic decoder ring across their
website, and see their sincerity. Check them out a bit before you
buy, have any of the webmasters that you know purchased from them?
What's their experiences with that vendor? Do they guarantee their
materials? Do they guarantee that you will even LIKE their
materials? Does the offer look "too good to be true"? A trustworthy
vendor is going to be around for awhile, and is going to be there
when something goes wrong. Look them over and talk to them, how do
they seem to you when you are talking to them? Are they evasive with
the answers to your questions, or do they seem to know their material,
and know the answers to the questions?
When it comes down to brass tacks, this business is full of land
mines, and you have to navigate it carefully. It's a jungle out
there, and there are a lot of snakes that would like to bite you where
it hurts. Your content provider is going to be your partner in your
walk though this jungle, and you have to pick that partner VERY
carefully. Your freedom and livelihood are depending on your making
the correct choice.
If you have a question about this article or any of the issues raised
in it, please feel free to e-mail me at dave.clark@web-legal.com or
drop by my website at http://www.web-legal.com for a look around.
Of course, I'm not a lawyer, and I don't even play one on TV, but
I'll give you honest answers and opinions to your questions.
*** Arsenal Computer/Web-Legal Services
*** http://www.web-legal.com dave.clark@web-legal.com
*** PO Box 5723, Topeka KS 66605-0723
*** 800-9CD-SALE (800-923-7253) (785-234-2642 voice)
*** (785-234-8528 fax)
*** 30-Day Money Back Guarantee on All Content Sales!
Ray's note-Thanks Dave!!!
Send e-mail to webmaster@barely8teensex.com