LOS ANGELES—In an Order issued yesterday, a stipulation between the two main parties to Vivid Entertainment's lawsuit against Los Angeles County's Measure B has been approved by U.S. District Judge Dean D. Pregerson.
According to the stipulation between Plaintiffs Vivid, Kayden Kross and Logan Pierce, and the Defendant-Intervenors Michael Weinstein and various of his AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) employees and the AHF-funded "Yes on B" campaign—and with no apparent attempt even to consult the actual defendants: Dr. Jonathan Fielding, DA Jackie Lacey and Los Angeles County—the parties have agreed to dismiss the Plaintiffs' Motion for Summary Judgment, though Judge Pregerson allowed that the Motion could be refiled at a later date if necessary.
The judge's Order based on the stipulation also moves the date of the hearing on the Plaintiffs' Motion for Preliminary Injunction, originallly scheduled for May 6, to June 24, apparently to give AHF's attorneys time to file a response to the Motion, which the judge ordered to be filed by May 13. In addition, the Order appears to require both parties to engage in settlement discussions regarding the lawsuit, but should those discussions prove fruitless—the most likely outcome—then the Order requires AHF to file either its own Motion to Dismiss the Complaint, or in the alternative, to file their Answer to the Complaint by May 10.
How the dismissal of the Motion for Summary Judgment and the postponement of the Motion for Preliminary Injunction will affect adult producers in the interim is anyone's guess. Although FilmLA will not issue a shooting permit to any producer who lacks a Measure B-required County Public Health Permit, adult movies continue to be shot in Los Angeles County and the counties surrounding it, and just two shooting permits have been issued since the beginning of the year. Additionally, "Porno Dan" Leal, one of the few producers to apply for a County Public Health Permit, remains in litigation after someone (reportedly an AHF employee) filed a complaint with CalOSHA regarding Leal's company, Immoral Productions, allegedly failing to use condoms and other barrier protections on a health-permitted set—litigation which the rest of the industry is watching closely.
For its own part, as its lawsuit winds its way through the courts, Vivid has reportedly instituted a policy where it will not shoot hardcore sex scenes within L.A. County, though non-sex action and dialog scenes are allowed to be filmed in the San Fernando Valley and elsewhere.
Check back with AVN for the latest developments regarding this important litigation.
