The new OSHA rules make it pretty clear that producers are going to be responsible for paying for talents tests. It has long been questioned how this could be done fairly since talent works for multiple producers. LATATA has floated an 20 dollar additional stipend paid directly to the performer every time they shoot and this is a good start it does add up, particularly for the more active performers but it would take about 20 shoots a month to add up to enough to cover the monthly costs of testing. few performers, if any are working that much, and the law is pretty specific about employers paying for testing, it doesn’t say they have to pay for some of it, it says ALL of it.
Now ideally Porn Valley would be an honest and responsible lot and every time a company shoots they would call or email or login to a centralized tracking database (NOT AFFILIATED WITH THE FSC) and they would log the performer names they are shooting that day and at the end of the month each company would be sent a bill for their share of the testing. I think we all see the problem with this scenario Porn Valley, by and large is anything but honest.
Maybe the Agents could do it though, few performers anymore represent themselves and it actually does help the agents and the industry in the event of the all too common STD outbreaks, it certainly makes it easier to compile a list of exposures.
On the flip side every layer of complexity added to the system increases the likelihood of performers and producers going rogue and circumventing the system. It also opens the door to producers enticing talent to circumvent the system through monetary means or through promises of more work, Porn as a whole simply isn’t honest enough for a system like this to work.
Id love to hear from anyone who thinks they might have a viable solution.
15 Responses
The Testing Problem A Solution Seems Unlikely http://t.co/uLhtCoYFg3
OSHA TRIED!!!! The companies responded like children!!! There is NO compromise possible NOW!!!! Wake up, folks!!! Ya poke the government with a stick, the government DEVOURS you!!! And as far as going rogue??? PLEASE!!! Theres this little thing nowadays called the INTERNET! Perhaps you’ve heard of it (you’re on it right now!)!!! Any film shot ends up here and it is EVIDENCE!!! The companies who are going to suffer on account of these new rules DESERVE IT!!! Stupid steve “hazmat suit idiot” hirsch and others trusted diane “blood on her hands” duke to hammer out a deal and WHAT A MISTAKE THAT WAS!!! Now each and every company will be independently responsible for keeping the cauldron of STD’s from reaching the public at large!!! And diane? You skanky skank!!!! Sue me for libel and slander, you talent diddling skank!!! I beg you!!!! Same goes for steve, marci, and kelly!!!! Have Shailar contact me for information for your lawyers, k? I will prove that everything I have said is true!!!! Love to!!!! What is going to happen is that the companies (who make money off the video FOR ETERNITY) are going to pony up the extra money for the talents previous test, then PAY for the talents post-exposure test! It’s the cost of doing business, nothing more, nothing less! Who here thinks that BF Goodrich enjoys paying for hearing tests every three months for their employees who are exposed to nothing more than loud noises? Eh? But it is the COST OF DOING BUSINESS, period! Oh, and I think marci hirsch has HIV and that it is her who is spreading it! Now sue me, diane! (called us dismal, diane? you are a soon to be unemployable joke)
$20 says that the talent don’t see a dime of the $20 paid to LATATA by the producers. $20 says the agents keep that money. 😉
Exactly. Well said, Nick!!
@Billy: 😉
Rob Black : Vivid Beating A Dead Horse Fighting Condom Regulations
Cal/OSHA is here
–Rob Black
“I was thinking before we got on the air I haven’t seen Stevie Hirsch lately. I don’t know where he’s been and i was getting nervous thinking maybe he doesn’t love us anymore.”
“But then I saw his pretty little face on AVN. Just when we thought we had heard it all from the condom debate here comes Stevie.”
“With all the new developments the condom debate seems kind of artificial. The law is already the law in Los Angeles. Cal/OSHA has already implemented their safety regulations that require condoms you have Steve Hirsch and his lawyers filing papers challenging AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s Ninth Circuit standing in the Measure B case as intervenors.”
“You do realize if there was no Rob Black you brain dead morons would all be doing bowling events to fund the goddamn appeal for Measure B to take AIDS Healthcare Foundation off of a case that doesn’t matter now. I really don’t know why Vivid and this whole process is going on. They really think they’re going to have fundraisers and get people to throw money at this?”
“Or is it that they want to keep going through the motions so that Cambria and them can eat up that bill. Because if they stopped now they would have to refund the money. Because Cambria and all of them said it was gonna cost a million and a half to fight this thing and if they stopped now, they would have to refund the money.”
“So basically everybody’s gonna keep fighting for that almighty dollar.It’s not fighting to make the dollar, they’r fighting to steal it. And who are they stealing it from? The American Adult worker. Again I don’t know why all this is going through. Here’s the thing guys. The only thing this can play with is if it’s gonna go on a statewide level ballot initiative.”
“Right now you can’t shoot non condom porn in LA because the voters voted on it. What they’re doing ain’t gonna overturn what the voters voted on. What Hirsch and them are doing isn’t gonna do nothing with the new cal.OSHA regulations.”
“So what Hirsch and Cambria are doing is throwing money away. Now their mission is to do what? Prevent the initiative from going on a statewide ballot?”
“You now have Ca/OSHA implementing regulations for the adult industry. So now you have Steven Hirsch looking like a dum dum. You know how easy it would be for Steve and Vivid just to drop this case? Just like the Republicans who don’t know when to stop. Today finally the government shutdown is done and everybody’s going back to work.”
“The adult industry doesn’t know when to stop. They don’t know when to say enough’s enough. You would think he would finally say fine, we’re going condoms. Diane Duke, you’re out. Fine. We’re gonna start paying for testing. Fine. But they will not fucking budge.”
“How anyone in the business can claim they’re democrats is ridiculous. They are a bunch of hidden Republicans. Even Jenna Jameson shilled for Mitt Romney now she’s hosting the XBIZ awards.”
“You people are pathetic. It’s like the jig is up. They already know the city is not going to challenge anything. Basically Vivid is saying AIDS Healthcare Foundation should not be part of this case, Their hope is the city is not going to pursue it and there is not going to be statewide condom use.”
“But the point is moot because there is already a city law and now Cal/OSHA has implanted regulations that cover condom use. We all knew this was going to happen. We all knew this time was going to come.”
“It’s like you’re all going to have to abide by rules governing workplace safety. The industry wants to fight regulation and claim a first amendment right, but do you realize that when there are mergers or media acquisitions they have to get approval from the federal government? So the government can deny an individual’s right to free speech.”
“Moral of the story. Steve Hirsch. Give up. Cal/OSHA is here. If we would have had regulation 30 years ago we wouldn’t have had obscenity busts because the business would have been legitimate.”
Are performers considered employees or independent contractors? Only performers considered as employees would be covered under the proposed Cal/OSHA rules.
“Employer/employee status
Currently, some workers in the adult film industry are paid as employees (they get a paycheck with taxes and other deductions) and some are paid as independent contractors (they get a 1099 at the end of the year). Even workers who are paid as independent contractors may be considered employees under the law. The Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) provides guidance for determining whether someone is an independent contractor. Although determinations about whether a person is an employee or an independent contractor are made based on the circumstances of each case, an employer/employee relationship has been found in similar circumstances, including in the mainstream film industry and exotic dance establishments.”
Independent contractor versus employee : http://www.dir.ca.gov/dlse/FAQ_IndependentContractor.htm
The Testing Problem A Solution Seems Unlikely http://t.co/FwstPaW3Ll
I guess the biggest problem here is that a single performer might appear for a number of production companies during on “testing cycle”. it would be unfair for the performer (or agent, or testing agency) to collect the full cost of the testing from each production company.
On the other side, for a performer who appears only in a single production per testing cycle, or who only shoots for a single production company, it would appear that the only way to meet the “employer pays” mandate would be to collect the amount in full.
There is plenty of potential money for corrupt people and “industry leaders” (looking at you Diane) to get their mitts on. Charge full cost each time the performer shoots, and you have a surplus of funds that would be porn’s biggest slush fund. Don’t charge enough each time, and you have a shortfall and people begging for donations and sponsorships.
Money, lowlifes, and the law… what a wonderful triagle of fun.
Duh…get rid of the crossovers snd sctive escorts and you would
have the problems. Duh…
And for Best Understatement of the Year, the nominees are… Mike South for “Porn Valley, by and large is anything but honest” …
d012560c: You need to look at the language more closely. What they are saying is that even though some workers are paid as independent contractors, they may be considered as employees under the law – therefore, under the law, they would be entitled to the same as employees.
They also note that that has been found to be the case in the mainstream film industry. As an independent contractor who has worked in mainstream television, I can tell you that that is the case. Although my contracts were negotiated as an independent contractor, the employer – either an independent production company, which would be similar to a porn production company – or the network that contracted with me treated me like an employee during the term of the contract.
There’s no reason that porn talent would be treated differently than mainstream talent. The relationship is the same.
Does anyone have any testing payment ideas?….I’ve been waiting here for some creative thoughts….what about Agents billing Producers at the end of the month the percentage due for total testing costs….for example…if a performer works twice for company A and once for company B and C….company A would owe half the testing costs and the others one fourth…this would be reconciled at the end of month…..and assuming agents have many performers these numbers would be amalgamated together and the agents held responsible for collections from producers and payments to performers….this would be a little timely but a better idea then a mush pot of over funding no?
but if the mush pot is the better way to go the overages could be allocated for treatment purposes……
Rob Black : Why Are Agents Not Paying For Testing? Talent : Dump Your Agents, Don’t Be a Loser
Wipe your ass with their contracts
–Rob Black
“I want to talk about the testing costs and how somehow the agents some are not in the mix whatsoever.
“Not real sure how that is. We can talk about it until we’re blue in the face.”
“Let’s talk about what we have in an agent. What they are are basically pimps. They are trafficking women for sex. What Derek Hay and a couple of other did is went and got licenses.”
“California is really the only place where it is legal to film pornography. Problem is talent agencies, like Cal/OSHA regulations, were never meant to be applied to pornography.
The agents all run around with papers saying we’re licensed agents but they never bothered to read the part where it covers sending talent to unsafe work conditions.”
“Talent agencies never had to deal with the question of the safety of 50 man gangbangs when they dealt with actors like Robert Duvall and Marlon Brando.”
“The minute a girls walks on the sets and they are drugs or alcohol, the minute they work without a condom the agents are violating the rules of their license. The agents break every rule in the book when they send talent out to do a 50 man gangbang.”
“So thèse agents take money from producers, they take money from talent, they double dip.”
“Then they have the talent sign these contracts that you can wipe your ass with, but these agents like Derek Hay and Sandy at OC Modeling have these girls sign these contracts and when these girls want to get out out these contracts they have to pay the agents two thousand dollars. That is a fact. I know two girls that this happened to. One girl at OCModeling and one girl at LA Direct. And these agents take 15-20%.”
“Then you’re asking who should pay for the testing? Are you guys serious? Are you fucking serious?”
“Every guy or girl should have their agent pay for their test. If their talent makes them money, by selling their pussies, their dicks and their assholes, it is in the best interest of that pimp to make sure their talent is a shelty as humanly possible so they can keep getting out there fucking and sucking.”
“These pimps take a piece of every single thing the talent does. When they cam, the agent gets a piece of that. when they go on a signing the agent gets a piece of that. When you work for the companies, the agent gets a piece of that. Alexis Texas has a contract with Adam and Eve. How much do you want to bet that Derek Hay has a piece of that?”
“So how can any of you be questioning who should be paying for the fucking tests? Can I ask all of you girls how you are so weak and feeble to not say, ‘Yes, my pimp should be paying for my test.’
“The guy who picks up the phone and all he does is talk to Tim Von Swine and sends a girl over to shoot?”
“Charity Bangs who is with 101 Modeling, who is Bud Lee super pimp and Robert Moran. Why does your agent not pay for your test? Why should any of the producers not work out a deal with the agents and have them pay for their test? Are you that weak that you can’t pick up the phone and book your own work? Kinda confused on that. So you have to give 20% of your money to Bud Lee and Robert Moran? Why should anybody but your pimp pay for your test?”
“Remember producers, owners, all of these people are included in the cal/OSHA regulations because these people are real. The agents are pimps.”
“So why is Charity Bangs not out there saying the agents should pay for the tests? Charity Bangs goes out there and takes a load in her mouth and then goes back and gives her money to Bud Lee and Robert Moran. Why?”
“Shall we give a rundown of the producers? We did this before, we’ll do it again.”
“External Passion, Erotica X. That’s fucking Mason.” http://www.eroticaxxx.com
“All of you girls out there tell me now. Who books Mason’s stuff? If you can’t get a hold of Mason, guess what? That means she doesn’t want to use you. But Mason is the person that you call. So Charity Bangs, you really need Bud Lee to call Mason?”
“Weapon of Ass Destruction. Jules Jordan. We all know Jules Jordan. He’s on Twitter. So girls. You all need Bud Lee and Robert Moran to communicate with Jules Jordan? Jules Jordan can be reached by phone, by email, by Twitter. If Jules Jordan doesn’t get back to you, that means he doesn’t want to shoot you!”