John Stagliano and Evil Angel got a little win in court today. They got some OSHA citations repealed, which on the surface looks like a victory. For Stagliano it is a victory, But if you’re one of Staglianos producers look out, the bus is coming your way now. Seems attorney and John argued that Evil Angel is not the producer, or employer, YOU the small time producer for Evil Angel are the producer, and you are responsible as far as OSHA is concerned. The citations werent repealed because they were ruled incorrect, they just said the wrong entity was cited, Stag said “No not me, its the little guy who sold me this scene that is responsible,” and the court agreed.
I wrote about this over two years ago, that the real producers would set up the smaller producers to take the hit from OSHA, and that is exactly what they have done. Sets a nice precedent too. Stagliano, I am sure all of these small producers are going to be very thankful for ‘your’ victory.
The new statewide initiative does address this. The new act calls for ‘all agents of control’ accountable, which helps performers by basicly holding everyone above them liable. Thanks Stag, for passing the buck down the line, cant wait till Stags producers get hit with the OSHA fines, those will be some interesting appeals.
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I wonder if Karen Tynan is going to represent the producers who make content for Evil Angel when OSHA cites them, or will that be a conflict of interest for her? Either way, EXACTLY as predicted, the small producers are going under the bus, and the distributor, Evil Angel walks away scott free. Hey you small Evil Angel producers, do you think Stag is going to have your back when the citations come your way? LOL
And….now we know why this report disappeared from the OSHA site between February and April 2014.
The links below detail the known reports that disappeared and still await FOIA compliance. Great win for Tynan aka the FSC go to OSHA expert…Great timing for any independent producers who believed FSC had your back cuz now you know they don’t and can prepare for the upcoming OSHA public comment.
Be aware the draft policy OSHA will publish will be a proposed rulemaking document that was developed with three groups in mind…OSHA, AHF and FSC (stakeholders) as the three that submitted language and terms.
Now that FSC (stakeholders) can’t throw performers under the bus they will dump the subcontracted producers under the bus for safety costs and compliance liabilities. The same stuff Tynan used to win this appeal for Stagliano is the stuff she has been putting forward on behalf of FSC (stakeholders) behind the scenes through the process.
While FSC (stakeholders) are busy celebrating this win they are ignoring what nearly every US mainstream media outlet published in their AEE articles…last Friday Nevada health human services proposed treating adult filming like brothels. Some included what I’ve been saying for over a year…other states are working on these regs or will adopt those that pass. If you’re a producer anywhere in the US you have a vested interest in both upcoming regulations Cal/OSHA and NV HHS.
http://www.mikesouth.com/john-stagliano/disappearing-cal-osha-inspection-reports-9282/
http://www.mikesouth.com/john-stagliano/osha-reports-re-appear-with-violations-9764/
My guess is that Stagliano does not now, and certainly won’t in the future, sign a contract with independent producers to create specific content for him, like a signature line. That way, he has no hand in the creation of the production and no control over the finished product, any more than you and I as consumers have a say in whether Apple uses child labor to produce an iPhone or an apparel company uses a sweatshop in Bangladesh to produce our tee shirts. That would get him around the requirement to have control over what happens on the set.
In mainstream, as a rule, a network or studio contracts with a production company and provides some up front financing to produce content, and has script and personnel approval. They make sure the producer is in compliance with regs, etc., because they’ve been sued when things go awry.
And Lurking is right – we’ve both been writing this and have been proven correct – porn’s biggest concern right now should not so much be the condom rule, but CAL-OSHA, which has a potential national impact, and other states asking whether they really want an unregulated porn industry moving into their neighborhoods.
Any libertarian state that publicly welcomes porn with open arms – and I can’t imagine what state that would be – will do what Colorado has done with pot; what most states have done with gambling; and Nevada has done with brothels, which is to regulate and tax the hell out of it.
Last, I promise, this is why the Ninth Circuit ruling is potentially so devastating to porn if it wants to move. States in the past may have been worried about coming down too hard on porn for fear of a First Amendment battle. The Ninth Circuit negates that fear – it says that within reason, public health and safety trumps the First Amendment in porn. It gives regulators a life preserver to hang onto. You’ll note that to date, porn has not appealed this ruling further. The industry’s only next stop is to mount a Supreme Court appeal.
@BT
Between the NRLB forcing fastfood corps to gather and disseminate (to SEIU) employee contact info from their independently owned and operated franchises and the ACT requiring all stakeholders to be licensed I’m curious how it will play out in contrast to the free rein subcontractors and secondary producers. The term secondary producer has been a major sticking point for over five years between the industry and OSHA. Sooo…the only thing that seems certain is that nothing is certain.
I don’t think he threw them under the bus, rather he has done what any sane business operator would do: Try to shift risk and burden to others and keeping the more profitable parts of the business to themselves.
I also think it’s the way the laws are written in this area. The company contracting for the content doesn’t actually produce it, any more than me ordering 10 cut pieces of stainless steel would be producing the metal. Someone else’s job is to do that, I am just taking a finished product and selling it on, retail or wholesale. It is very hard to write rules that would stop this sort of thing without getting actual end retailers into a position of having liability, which would not be a good thing at all.
For what it’s worth, this may also be a coming of age for adult content production. The more states write laws to regulate it, the more they are accepting it to both be legal and reasonable in society. The governments cannot regulate illegal speech (as it is by essence always outside the law), and the writing to laws about porn product directly would legalize it.
My guess is that someone will figure this out and advise the state lawmakers and AGs not to go down this road.
Actually ….. this is one more example of porn trying to have it both ways. On the one hand, porn wants to be accepted as a legitimate business that creates jobs and adds to the wealth of the community – porn’s argument for why California should not regulate it. When you had performers like Jenna and Tera Patrick showing up on VH1, Jenna with a best-selling book or on a giant billboard, porn tried to say that it had arrived as mainstream entertainment.
At the same time, this action by Stagliano is another example of porn saying: We do it our way, screw you and your regulations.
Mainstream media – whether we are talking the magazine business, television entertainment, or theatrical films takes responsibility for the content that it distributes. When someone sues over a magazine article or how they are depicted in a television program or theatrical movie, everyone is sued, including the distributor. When a broadcast or cable network contracts for content, they order up a pilot and then they order up follow on episodes. They are held every bit as responsible for what happens during the production of that content as the production company with whom they contract and the director contracted by the production company to run the set.
Porn, on the other hand, is saying: Not us. No way. We have nothing to do with the production of content. We don’t want to have anything to do with the production of the content. If the finished product happens to stumble into our laps, we may choose to distribute it, but we have no responsibility prior to that. Don’t treat us like mainstream, because we ain’t that. Just as they tried to argue that they have no responsibility for the health and safety of talent (hey, they’re independent contractors; not our problem), or that if you try to regulate them at all, they’ll just go underground like cock roaches.
At some point, adult entertainment has to decide whether its a legitimate industry or if it wants to continue to operate like the Sons Of Anarchy.
“At the same time, this action by Stagliano is another example of porn saying: We do it our way, screw you and your regulations.”
Is it any different from Apple or Nike having third party companies produce their goods using child labor or with workers forced to do many hours of overtime in unsafe conditions?
It’s the way business works – make money, don’t spend it when you don’t have to.
American Labor on American soil makes a huge difference.
That’s not even analogous. And yes, it’s extraordinarily different. Porn says that it wants to be taken as seriously as mainstream entertainment but it is unwilling to conduct business under the same rules as mainstream entertainment or to act like a mainstream entertainment business.
What’s more, Apple and Nike have been taken to task for the actions of its third party manufacturers, as has the apparel industry, and are investing money to clean up their supply chains. Stagliano is doing just the opposite. Rather than say we are appalled that the content we are distributing was produced in unsafe violations and we’re going to work with our producers to make things better, Stagliano is saying: Not our problem; we don’t give a fuck what happens to talent as long as a viewer gets off watching it.
So, yeah, its a lot different.