Owning a Porn Site: All You Need to Know From a Legal Standpoint

• 12 Dec, 2023
• Adult Site Broker

From general free porn sites that cater to every taste, to niche, premium porn sites that members must pay a subscription for, there has been a growing popularity of adult porn sites. They are a lucrative business that, when done right, can help owners rake in the big bucks. But where to start? 

Owning a porn site isn’t as easy as just buying a web domain, selecting your content and uploading it. It’s a business that requires correct legal compliance daily and best practices to ensure that you are successful and do not break any laws. The adult industry is a highly regulated industry, from age verification laws to copyright and GDPR protections, both for users and the porn stars themselves. 

In this article, Adult Site Broker will walk you through all you need to know about owning an adult porn site. From legal considerations to our best practices so you can hit the ground running. 

One thing to note: since we are not attorneys at Adult Site Broker, please don’t take any of this as legal advice. Consult an attorney to make sure you’re in compliance with all laws in your areas of operation.

Age Verification and Consent

Whether you are buying porn videos and images from porn license companies or working with models directly, having a strict age verification process, where each model must show a verified and in-date ID proving they are 18 or over, will protect you in the long run. 

As well as this, making sure that each video comes with a model release form confirming consent to star in and have the content distributed will also protect you from any lawsuits in the future. 

Content Rights and Copyright

Whether you distribute your content made by pornstars on your payroll or buy the clips from a third-party porn license site, making sure you own the content rights is necessary. Without these licenses, you are illegally pirating the content, which can lead to legal consequences that range from fines, imprisonment, or to your site being taken down. 

One of the main concerns when distributing porn on your site is the issue of pirated content. Such as users uploading content they have stolen from OnlyFans or even revenge porn. If this does happen, then it is up to you to make sure that the content is taken down, or you may end up facing a DMCA takedown order from the parent site on behalf of the model. Or worse.

Compliance with National and International Laws

Although we are speaking broadly about following the legal requirements to set up a porn site in this article, it is crucial to be aware of the specific laws for where your website operates from. If you are US-based, this includes knowing the laws of your state, such as taxes, age verification, data protection, and business law. 

Suppose you plan on distributing your porn site across multiple states or countries. In that case, it is also necessary to know and follow the laws of every state or country you operate within, as well as regional and international laws, such as EU regulations and human rights protection laws. By ensuring your website operates legally within each legal jurisdiction in which your website operates, you are less likely to face legal consequences in the long run. 

Privacy and Data Protection

With porn sites being more popular than sites like Amazon and Netflix (Pornhub alone gains over 3 million users daily), upholding privacy and data protection for users’ personal details is crucial to being a legitimate business. 

Whether you’re complying with the EU’s GDPR rules or the US Privacy laws (which can change state by state), knowing when and how you can use and store users’ data, especially sensitive content like emails, personal details, and financial information, is needed in order not to face legal consequences.

Data protection includes being open and honest about the types of data you collect, storing them safely so that you are not sharing them with third parties illegally, and limiting the amount of data you collect. You should also show how you’re holding yourself accountable for the collection and handling of data. For this, you should have a dedicated privacy policy on your site that shows how you comply with the necessary laws you are under the jurisdiction of. 

Challenges and Risks

Being up-to-date on any new legislation can be hard as the courts look to keep up with the changing landscape of the digital world and the rise of adult content creators. Laws are changing to limit and control the industry. 

As the owner of a brand-spanking new adult porn site, upholding your legal responsibilities should be a priority. It means that not only is everything above board, but none of your content can lead to fines, takedown notices, or strict criminal charges for distributing child pornography or depicting rape, revenge porn, or human trafficking. Ensure you know all legislation that can affect your business and regularly check that your content aligns with the current laws.  

Best Practices

Although it can feel like there is a huge weight on your shoulders when it comes to upholding your legal responsibilities as the owner of an adult porn site, by sticking to these best practices, you can easily stay above board without it impacting your day-to-day operations and causing you stress. 

These include regularly staying up-to-date on legal changes for the countries you operate in, such as understanding the latest age verification laws in the UK, EU and the US. Or any changes to data protection. Have regular legal consultations to make sure your policies and contracts reflect the current legal standards and that all licenses are still up to date. Finally, implementing stringent age verification and consent processes, such as having each model hold a signed model release form as they state on video that they consent to the filming and distribution. As well as this, you can also have a team set up to moderate and monitor the site regularly for the uploading of illegal or copyrighted content and regularly takedown anything not in compliance with copyright policies.   

These are small, everyday things you can do in the operation of your porn site that will take the stress off of you in the long run. 

Conclusion

Although it can feel never ending, the importance of upholding legal diligence throughout the lifespan of your adult porn site can save you in the long run. By making sure you comply with age verification and consent clauses, ensure your content isn’t stolen, and that you comply with the best GDPR practices both within your country of origin and internationally, you can prove your legitimacy as a site of legal, high-quality porn and save yourself the time, money and headache that comes from facing legal consequences like DMCA takedown notices or even going to court. 

Owning a porn site can be a lucrative business but should not be a choice for the faint of heart. You not only have to find quality content that brings the masses to your site, but you must uphold the legal responsibilities that come with it in the long run to avoid legal action. 

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