It always amazes me just how many porn performers are out there producing content to offer for commercial release and not getting model releases and proper 2257 documentation.
While not having a model release can cost you in a civil lawsuit, but not having 2257 can land you in jail. Not having valid 2257 documentation is a federal offense.
Whoever violates the 2257 regulations shall be imprisoned for not more than 5 years, and fined in accordance with the provisions of this title, or both. Whoever violates this section after having been convicted of a violation punishable under this section shall be imprisoned for any period of years not more than 10 years but not less than 2 years, and fined in accordance with the provisions of this title, or both.
What kind of person would do that?
Meet Vicky Vixxx.
She’s a fetish model from Tampa, Florida and while not a major porn star, she is still active in the industry and producing content that she offers for sale on her Clips4Sale story without proper paperwork. That means no 2257 – which means no LEGAL PROOF the person in that scene is over 18.
We contact Clips4Sale to discuss the illegal content she’s promoting on their platform but have yet to hear back from them.
We’ve also reached out to our contacts at Exxxotica to discuss the fact that she claims she’ll be at the upcoming show promoting her content. I’m not sure what their policy is regarding performers promoting illegal content at their show is, but I suspect we’ll find out soon enough when they return our call.
When you produce content and can’t prove the model in that scene with you is over 18, that can land you in jail. Even if you know for a fact they are over 18, it doesn’t matter. The law is clear on the subject and requires very specific paperwork regarding the production of pornography. You must follow these rules and get a copy of their ID, (only certain IDs are accepted so you need to make sure it’s the right one) and you need to fill out a model release, allowing you to use the content you produce.
The guidelines for enforcing these laws (colloquially known as 2257 regulations) (C.F.R. Part 75), part of the United States Code of Federal Regulations, require producers of sexually explicit material to obtain proof of age for every model they shoot, and retain those records.
Every person in the scene must fill out a model release and the 2257 documentation and you must get a copy of every person’s ID as well. You must do this for every scene. So even if you film 17 scenes, you must do this 17 times. Sounds crazy I know but that’s just how the government works.
If you are one of the porn performers who does take the time to follow the rules, getting model releases signed and gathering proper 2257 documentation, you still may not be in the clear because of people like Vicky Vixxx. See if she gets caught by the feds, then they will look at every scene she’s ever produced and every person in every scene, even if some of those scenes have proper documentation.
Any of those people could have an association with a scene you’ve done and that could bring unwanted heat on you.
The same goes for Clips4Sale. Because she is selling her illegal, undocumented scenes on the Clips4Sale platform that means the feds could then take a much closer look at every single person who produces and sales content on their platform.
Do you really want the FBI looking into your business?
Then with all those records, they may hand over the documents to the IRS who may start compare what you reported as income in comparison to what the platform says you made. Long story short, someone else not following the rules can cost you big time.
So my advice is this, follow the rules yourself but also avoid anyone like Vicky Vixxx who doesn’t. Go out of your way to avoid anything to do with people who you know aren’t doing things the right way and that way you can minimize your risk of being caught up in the FBI’s net when they take people like her down.
11 Responses
I’m sorry but I have to ask. Yes, 2257 is the law. Yes, it was designed and passed solely to be a pain in the ass for producers of adult material, and Yes, you have to be crazy not to abide fully with all the minutia that 2257 tangles you up in if you make adult material. But have you ever heard of anybody actually being charged solely for failure to comply? I am out of touch with the internet video suppliers so I’m seriously asking.
Yes a few people in the past have been nailed for 2257 violations. But it’s been many years (as far as I know). The thing that sucks is not getting legally charged but them showing up in the first place. The raid for 2257 compliance is a BITCH. They take your computer. Everything. It’s all fucked up.
Not reporting your actual income can get you in trouble even without a section 2257 investigation. Clips4Sale, ManyVids, FanCentro, OnlyFans, etc. (on top of any investment broker, bank, credit union, savings and loan, mutual fund, etc. that you use/invest in) are required to send the IRS a form 1099 with your information and the amount they paid you each year as a channel operator and content producer. They are also required to send you (as the owner of the channel) a copy. Theoretically the IRS could also go through 2257 paperwork, take copies and model releases then compare them to your reported income (since 2257 paperwork is not sent to the government as a matter of course that would require raids on individual producers and production companies). Also, the C4S, etc. channel owner/content producer (you could be required to send these) is required to send a 1099 to the IRS with your information and the amount they paid you as talent to perform in every video you performed, operated camera, been a grip, etc. for them. There is no way to avoid paying taxes for your porn work (just ask Ashley Blue about that one, she got hit with $26K in unpaid tax bills plus penalties and interest — and that was before C4S type sites), the regulations were tightened up too tight for that years ago. You might have got away with that working for the local Whippi-Dip during your high school years but that won’t be happening in porn. Even if a producer pays you in cash he (or she or they) will be sending a 1099 with the pertinent information to both you and the IRS. All 1099 information is then sent on to your state of residence AND state of filming. If you live in Michigan but film scenes in California, Washington State and Oregon, you are required to file state income tax in four states. Alaska, Florida, Nevada, New Hampshire, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Washington and Wyoming do not have a state income tax. Michigan has a deduction for tax paid as a Michigan resident for work in the other states but you still have to file four returns in this example. Again, Nevada and (for those working for future attorney or criminal law professor the future doctorate holder Nica Noelle) New Hampshire do not have a state income tax or you would likely be filing there as well for work done there as a performer/cameraman/director/grip/etc. Non-resident state income tax is paid on whatever you made in that state, not your total income but your residence state income tax is paid on every last dime and not all states had a deduction for state income tax paid in other states. You are considered a resident of whatever state you spent 181 days in that year, if you didn’t spend 181 days in any one state it is whatever state you spent the most days in. If you maintain your primary residence in a state that you did not spend 181 days in or didn’t spend the most time in during the year (say you spent 170 days in California, 50 days in Nevada and 145 in Michigan and maintain your primary residence in Nevada or Michigan) you need a tax attorney to sort that one out (as well as a traffic law attorney to sort out where you need to maintain your driver license, California is really sticky about driver license issues like this one). Of course if you are paid via payroll with federal and state taxes, FICA, Medicare, California employment tax, etc. from your pay you will receive a W-2 as if you worked at some machine shop, McDonalds, etc. except from each industry employer that you worked for that paid you as an employee.
You are also required to pay 15.3% FICA/Medicare tax on most or all of your performing 1099 income (this is NOT the case with investment income). The 2019 FICA cap is $132,900 in earned income (salary, 1099 performer, W-2 performer) which makes the maximum payable in 2019 $16,479.60. There is no cap on Medicare income, you could make a billion dollars a year 1099 income and would have to pay 2.90% of every last dime. You pay half of that on W-2 income (the employer pays the other half), the percentage is 7.65% for that work up to the cap then 1.45% of any earnings (NOT investment income) over that amount. Get a qualified accountant and use his (or her) services. Unless you have a BBA majoring in accounting or better and have kept up on the law (not likely unless you teach accountancy and taxation or work as an accountant preparing tax returns each year regularly) you should not be preparing your own tax returns working in this industry. You will fuck it up, guaranteed!
Also, you have to pay your 1099 taxes quarterly, NOT YEARLY. Your accountant can get you the proper form and instructions to file and pay up. Usually you divide 110% of your prior year’s tax liability by four and pay that amount each quarter but that doesn’t always work (your 1099 income could sharply increase or decrease, making this method not work for you). This subject is too complicated to get into here but your accountant can explain it to you in as much detail as necessary. I don’t know if any banks still take IRS quarterly payments, I used to pay at a bank near me but nowadays I can do it all electronically and have it taken directly from my checking account. Your accountant should print off coupons for this purpose when you file your income tax return with any 1099 income on it.
As far as your 2257 records, you need four copies at minimum. You need both scanned and paper copies on site (in case of a raid) as well as both scanned and paper copies kept off-site in a bank safety deposit box or some other off-site, fire proof place. The cops could seize your copies at your home or office, claim you didn’t have any and prosecute you knowing you don’t have any way to prove you actually had them. If they are kept at an unadvertised, off-site location as well as your 2257 inspection address, you can get them to your criminal defense attorney for use as evidence that the cops are lying. With the current administration, this is a very likely scenario for any producers that get raided.
AEBN & HotMovies ask for custodian of records or want copies of 2257 and they list the info on the product page, c4s & Manyvids doesn’t do either. C4S & Onlyfans both have an exemption page, I see no 2257 page on MV, the same MV that allowed a model to upload a video with her dog.
Hey Kelli, I know for a fact that Vicky Vixxx keeps 2257s, proper IDs, and releases. I also know there is someone trying to fuck with her and her business and they apparently tricked you into helping. Vicky Vixxx is an award winning producer with much respect from producers and talent alike. You should contact Vicky ASAP and print a correction and probably a few nice promo stories to make up for this complete BS you’ve posted here, without any verification.
You said, “We contact Clips4Sale to discuss the illegal content she’s promoting on their platform but have yet to hear back from them.” Of course Clips4Sale isn’t going to contact you back to discuss this; it’s not your business. What they do, as they should, and you should too, is investigate claims like this before making any determination. And they will investigate and request paperwork when needed. They will not update the person making the accusations with the results. They will make sure their producers are legal or remove them. That’s it. If her stuff is still up a few days after making a complaint, you should assume it’s legal.
You are helping a person who has also targeted, harassed, and tried to extort other people in the industry. Congratulations.
Have no ideas who that AmDazed person could be but I have e-mails and correspondence from ManyVids Support in regards to a DMCA that was filed against Vicky Vixxx. ManyVids Support removed 16 videos from the Vicky Vixxx Fetish store on June 14th of 2019 after she FAILED to present proper CC 2257 Documentation when requested. I have the entire E-Mail chain from ManyVids support that totally backs up this story. Vicky used to be a decent Producer but she has fallen from grace and fallen hard! Keep on fighting for the truth Miss Kelli Roberts! You always find the good stories! Contact me anytime if you want to see those e-mails!
AmDazed as I pointed out in my next article, which your words are now the star of, Vicky Vixxx in fact did NOT keep proper records on more than a dozen of her movies and they’ve been removed as a result. And she’s damn lucky that’s all that happened to her. Imagine if the feds would have done a 2257 check on her ass? She would be facing serious prison time.
As far as my job to research or investigate a claim, I was doing just that by contacting these platforms as well as the parties involved. There was more than 1 person who made this claim against her, one was a male the other a female.
Part of 2257 is putting a statement to the fact, there is no compliant statement on either her c4s or MV.
Kelli, as you will see by my lengthy comment on my next article, you made assumptions about this that are not facts. ProModelWorld Put in a DMCA request, which legally has nothing to do with 2257, and fulfillment of such a take-down request does not show judgement by ManyVids nor anyone else. Sites are legally required to removed content when they get such a DMCA take-down request unless they are the owner of said content. They optionally could investigate and allow the original content poster to assert their rights and then re-activate the content, a process which it does not appear ManyVids does.
I’m not sure who your female source is, but based on his twitter ProModelWorld spends his days fucking with people and I wouldn’t find him, nor anyone he refers, to be at all credible.
Another thing is that 2257 documentation doesn’t need to be filled out or signed by performers nor replicated at every shoot. If you were told I filled out a 2257 one time but not another, that’s fine if none of the information has changed. As long as you have copy of identification and have asked the talent for any names they’ve gone by, you can fill out 2257’s without the talent even knowing you’re doing it. Legally speaking, you could have talent fill out no paperwork, have a video taped release, that includes them disclosing all stage names or legal names they’ve ever used holding their Legible ID, and then create the required 2257 documentation on your own from this video. I wouldn’t recommend this but I believe it would clearly satisfy the 2257 requirements.
Another situation is that many girls are so used to filling out paperwork and showing their ID, that they don’t remember doing it. Have seen numerous girls ask to sign the paperwork and provide their ID at the end of a shoot, when they had already done so at the beginning.
I’m guessing you never actually got to speak with Vicky because you’d never have printed the second story. It’s really too bad.