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Articles by J.D. Obenberger

opinion

Courtrooms in the Cloud: The DOJ Calls and Raises at the 3rd Circuit

On Dec. 9, a three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral argument from the parties and take a second look at the decision it rendered in May concerning the Free Speech Coalition’s constitutional attack against 18 U.S.C §§ 2257-2257A, the recordkeeping statutes for adult producers.

J.D. Obenberger ·
opinion

Courtrooms in the Cloud: For 2257, What Comes Next?

In resolving the latest assault against 18 U.S.C. § 2257, a three-judge panel of the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals roundly rejected the Free Speech Coalition’s broad assault on the substantive provisions of 2257, largely centered on arguments arising from the First Amendment.

J.D. Obenberger ·
opinion

Back to Basics: Model Releases

There is an almost intuitive knowledge among those members of the adult entertainment community who create images for Internet publication that model releases are necessary for some purpose or another, but there is a great deal of misunderstanding and confusion about what, exactly, model releases are.

J.D. Obenberger ·
opinion

Legal Dimensions

I suspect that any lawyer who serves image producers in the adult Internet long enough will acquire some experience dealing with models and performers (and their lawyers, and sometimes their relatives who claim to be brandishing baseball bats!) demanding a take-down of images — for which they have been fully compensated on the basis of a contractual release that provides rights to the producer and his assignees perpetually.

J.D. Obenberger ·
opinion

2257: Assaulting the Message

At the end of the 11 p.m. news on Chicago’s CBS Radio outlet, WBBM on July 18, the final story was that, in Philadelphia, a federal judge had overturned a lawsuit brought by the adult video industry against a law requiring them to keep records to make sure that the performers were not children, claiming that the effort was too much work. In the format of CBS radio, the final item is usually funny or ironic, a light-hearted way of ending an hourly news bulletin.

J.D. Obenberger ·

Obenberger: 2257 Judge's Chess Game With the 3rd Circuit

Attorney J.D. Obenberger analyzes Thursday's rulings over 18 U.S.C. §§ 2257 and 2257A, the federal record-keeping statutes for adult entertainment producers.

opinion

Don’t Fall Down: Mistakes to Avoid

This article originates out of a presentation I gave at the Phoenix Forum legal panel on Friday afternoon, April 5, 2013. It’s a pretty significant honor to join that distinguished panel.

J.D. Obenberger ·
opinion

The Skinny on NDAs

It is axiomatic that not all knowledge is obvious; in commerce, just as much as in science, information, know-how, and the means and methods by which results are achieved are often the result of extensive work, creative thought, insightful analysis, and laborious trial and error. There would be little incentive in commerce to drive the progress by which information is expensively acquired if it could not be protected: Knowledge itself is powerfully valuable. As important as copyrights and patents are, they do not and were never intended to protect any and all human discoveries. Where the protection of creative works by public copyright law ends, where the protection of inventions by public patent law ends, what remains is the private right to condition disclosure of confidential information by way of enforceable contracts that limit the further disclosure of the information. You might imagine a hypothetical world without enforceable Nondisclosure agreements — but it would be a world that would so discourage the disclosure of confidential information that progress and growth would be practically impossible, with all the risk of loss on those whose work is creative and valuable, but which falls outside those copyright and patent protections.

J.D. Obenberger ·
opinion

Courtrooms In The Clouds — Travel Plans You Won’t Forget

The recent, high-profile arrest of a leading adult Internet figure in a Belgian airport on the basis of a German tax fraud warrant has captivated the interest and attention of the entire online adult community like few other news stories during the past year; the episode possesses all of the features of high drama with themes of good versus evil (at least in some eyes), of evil brought to the test, and a dénouement in which the apparent resolution of the crisis unravels in confusing directions.

J.D. Obenberger ·
opinion

4 Dirty Little Secrets

This article is addressed to the producer who has invested his or her time, blood, sweat, tears, money, and juices (creative or otherwise) in finding talent, paying performers, developing forms, getting access to a studio, directing performers, editing content, creating a site and paying for hosting, design, scripts, SEO, and spending countless hours trying to promote and reap some financial reward from all of this. It is also addressed to those producers who have been the targets of pirate boards, file lockers, peer to peer file sharing protocols, just out and out theft, and most especially to those whose attempts at takedowns and DMCA letters have fallen on deaf ears.

J.D. Obenberger ·
opinion

2257: The Fight Goes On

On Nov. 26, at 9:30 in the morning, two very bright lawyers will square off before U.S. District Judge Michael M. Baylson in a high-rise courthouse in Philadelphia to conduct a hearing about whether the Free Speech Coalition's constitutional objections to 18 U.S.C. § 2257 inspections, based on the Fourth Amendment's prohibitions against unreasonable searches and seizures, can go forward - or whether those allegations - and this set of arguments about the 2257 scheme's ultimate constitutionality - will be dismissed.

J.D. Obenberger ·
opinion

2257 for Retailers

In late July 2006, the adult trade press reported at great length concerning the enactment of HR 4472, which expanded federal regulation of sexually explicit images. More than a year earlier, in June 2005, the Attorney General amended the regulations which implement Section 2257.

J.D. Obenberger ·
opinion

U.S. Obscenity Laws: 2

In Part 1, we discovered the historical protections of freedom of expression and the intent of the Founding Fathers. In this wrap up of our look at U.S. Obscenity Laws, we'll examine lust, prurience, and finding value in erotica:

J.D. Obenberger ·
opinion

U.S. Obscenity Laws: 1

Observers of the Washington scene will have noticed by now that certain elements within the federal government are pushing for a reinvigorated assault on the adult entertainment industry; including the redefinition, and prosecution of, federal obscenity laws. To better understand where this is all going, it's important to understand where it's starting from. Here's a two part look at the often confusing statutes, their roots, and examples of the results of their application.

J.D. Obenberger ·
opinion

XXXLAW Bulletin On 2257

As you know, these proposals are not the law yet. For now, they are just proposals, and I take the comment period seriously in this case, because I think that changes to the proposal are not only possible but likely. If your voice is to be heard, you must transmit your comments to the DOJ on or before August 24.

J.D. Obenberger ·
opinion

The Seven Circles of Internet Hell

Attorney J. D. Obenberger spoke at InterNext on the "Seven Circles of Internet Hell" about dangerous or illegal website content. There are a few important things he just could not say in ten minutes. The constantly hot topic of Section 2257 is one of those things. Here's a few points that shouldn't be missed:

J.D. Obenberger ·