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Third Circuit Decides Adult Film Industry Challenge to Federal Recordkeeping Laws

By Saranac Hale Spencer
June 02, 2015

Federal regulations requiring producers of pornographic material to keep records of their models' ages don't violate the First Amendment, but the warrantless searches they authorize violate the Fourth Amendment, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit ruled in Free Speech Coalition Inc. v. Holder, 13-3681.

This is the second ruling from the appeals court on the case brought by a group of artists and movie makers, led by the trade association for the adult film industry, the Free Speech Coalition, challenging two federal statutes that require them to keep records with the ages of their models and actors and be prepared to show the records to the FBI with little notice.

The law at issue is 18 U.S.C. '2257, enacted in 1988, and accompanying regulations that require producers of sexually explicit material to: maintain a record of the name and birth date of every performer in a given work; post a statement about where the records are located; and make the records available to the attorney general at all reasonable times. Section 2257A, enacted in 2006, imposes the same requirements for illustrations of simulated sex acts.

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