MONTGOMERY, Ala.—Alarm is rising across the adult industry over new record-keeping and consent regulations governing adult content production and user access in the U.S. state of Alabama. The panic reached a fever pitch after a series of legal panels at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada, last week.
Under a sweeping Alabama state law that requires age verification, a statewide 10 percent "sin" tax on pornography and wider regulations, adult production now faces a much higher degree of scrutiny. For the immediate case, written consent documentation must be notarized by a notary public, per the Alabama Secretary of State.
The law, House Bill (HB) 164, outlines this drastic requirement as a provision under the state's deceptive trade practices statutes.
The law reads, "Any commercial entity, before knowingly publishing or distributing a private image [...] through an adult website, shall obtain written consent to publish or distribute the private image from every individual depicted in the private image.
"The written consent required by this section shall be signed by the individual depicted and sworn to by a notary public," the law further decrees. "The commercial entity shall maintain records of the written consent for not less than five calendar years following the publication or distribution of the private image."
No major regulatory clarification has been published by the state government, leaving the notary requirement potentially circumventable. For example, adult studios can invest in hiring an in-house notary public licensed in Alabama or another state, provided the individual lawfully conducts notarial acts.
But this still creates further headaches for creators, producers and studios. AVN has confirmed that several platforms are now warning about written consent rules. Many popular platforms are now restricting or completely blocking users from Alabama, including content creators associated with IP addresses in the state.
This is a tactic similar to the parent companies of platforms like Pornhub, which has geo-blocked nearly half of the states in the U.S. due to their age-gating laws.
Corey Silverstein, a First Amendment attorney specializing in adult industry clients, told AVN that he is extremely alarmed by the nature of Alabama's law.
"One could argue that Alabama created one of the most aggressive age verification laws because it included mandatory health warnings," he said. "Alabama’s law is so burdensome to website operators that it’s no surprise that they are simply closing their doors to Alabama content creators.
"This goes to the heart of my continued position that these laws have nothing to do with protecting minors," he continued. "States like Alabama want to control what a person can view or publish and completely ignore the First Amendment. Sadly, Alabama enacted a law so burdensome that it has achieved its nefarious goal of eliminating content it deems unsuitable."
Silverstein was on an AEE legal panel that addressed the Alabama legal changes, along with Lawrence Walters of Walters Law Group.
