> Fayner Posts on www.lukeford.com: A while back Dani Woodward called me up saying some scum in Chicago was namedropping Barrett [Blade] and Tyler [Durden] to get chicks to fly to him and shoot for his company, and when she did he tried having her fall for the old “Oh, my test is expired but let’s do it anyways” line. He’s done it again, and I have agreed to help bring him down. If any porno chicks are unable to read please ask someone to read this to you so you don’t get screwed.
Fayner, Hopefully you’ve had time to talk to Barrett and Tyler;just to make sure I’m legitimate. Anyway, I need to let people in the industry about a shady character in Chicago. The guys name is Mike Grace, and he operates under TDP Inc. or TDP Productions ( as in Thick Dick Productions); his slimebag is trading on other peoples names such as Barrett Blade or Rockstarz Films. He is an acquaintance of Sam’s(Rockstarz Films) and has used Both our name and Barret’s name (as he knows that we are friends with Barrett, Tyler, and Etc.). He has shot primarily amateurs but is now trying to get professionals to come to Chicagoand shoot with him. He doesn’t pay after the scene are shot, he has pulled this dodge four times. The first time was with Dani Woodward around Christmas time, but Barrett called me and we took care of Dani. Most recently he tried to run a scam on Nicki Hilton, but one of our new web investors was able to save her from this douchebag’s scam. Both Sam and Tom from Rockstarz want all industry people to know unless you speak to us directly, we don’t vouch for anyone in the Chicago area. The same should be said for Barrett Blade and Tyler Durden as we are their only contacts in Chicago. Please feel free to contact us via our website to question anyone’s claims www.rockstarzfilms.com or [email protected] . Thanks, Tommy Rock
> Devon posted the following www.adultfyi.com/read.aspx?ID=16531the other day and the thread continues on ADT:
>Tony C writes on ADT: By what nefarious methods does Digital Playground force these poor girls into signing such unfair contracts? Drugs? Threats of violence to them or their loved ones? Are you suggesting maleficence on the part of Digital Playground in securing such unfair agreements with its contract players?
P.S.: Since when does need enter into the right of a person or business to assert ownership of their property?
Hey, here’s an idea!
How about any time a woman has regrets about having appeared in an x-rated film, she should be able to go to teh producers who own footage of her getting fucked and request that they no longer sell DVDs with her scenes on them?
>astroknight writes: As I remember, she was getting noticed pretty well as Tera Patrick before joining DP with movies such as Caribbean Undercover and Sex Island for Adam & Eve (where she did anal long before her “first anal” movie that was released through TeraVision / Vivid recently) as well as several movies for Legend. It’s definitely different with Sophia Santi and Jesse Jane, but Tera was building her name before DP.
That said, if they sign away rights to their name as part of a contract, the name should be gone. Consequences exist for stupid decisions just as they exist for good decisions. It’s kinda of like people who want to whine about how they think they should get paid extra money when something they’re involved in does far better than expected, but thinks that somebody else should bear the entire loss if something they’re involved in loses money.
“Vegetarianism for me is about saying ‘yes’ to things – even meat.” – Coupling
> Bill writes: I was told, by a pretty reliable source, over a year ago that Digital Playground had done the same thing to Devon that they had done to Tera Patrick. So reading Devon’s claim is no surprise to me.
> James Jameson writes: Porn Business is not different than Wrestling for exemple, look at the Dudlez Boyz or the New Age Outlaws, when they signed for TNA they could not use there WWE names. D-Von changed is name for Devon (its a coincidence) Bubba Ray for just Ray, Jesse James (again its a coincidence) for BG James. They also changed there team name (Dudlez Boyz now Team 3D based on there team move, and New Age Outlaws are now the Jame Gang) Or for exemple Christian is now Christian Cage. So here if the compagny own the right to Devon, she could use Devon something (with a familly name) without a probleme. Lot of time only 1 letter can do it, for exemple Tera Patrick could probably use Terra Patrick … things like that. Its only made to keep the performer not wanting to change compagny and keep with them.
In my opinion performer should have only to signe contract in years duration, if they signe for 2 years, then for 2 years they can’t work elsewhere. But name should always be the property of performers. Performais tought should always check that in there contract.
> Dr. Nasty writes: I agree with the points that industry stars should read their contracts more carefully. Or hire a lawyer to go over them before they sign. However the fact that a company is willing to go so far just to get the name, is plainly out of spite. Nothing else. Just to say “You don’t want to stay with us? Then to hell with you. Now you have to start from scratch.” I mean come on. Its a Name. Why do you need it in the first place? Its an intangible asset, that you can’t use anyway.
The people sitting behind their desks drawing up these contracts aren’t the ones out there busting their asses, dancing, doing pictorials, doing scene after scene, meeting fans, and maintaining that name and image for years. So why do they deserve the name more then the girl who embodies it?! They don’t.
And please(for the people trying to defend it). Save me the “We put money into that name” speech. Because for every dime you spend on a girl/name like Devon, or Tera Patrick, they make you that much more and then some.
> codybangs writes: As far as I know from Digital Playground(and I’ve asked and there’s no more reliable source than from Digital Playground), Devon is FREE to use her name to shoot. And you’re all right, she was Devon before she was Digital and she’s still Devon now. So whatever Devon thinks she can’t do, she’s wrong. Tera Patrick is another story.
> Jewel De’Nyle writes: Well it’s still controlling and stupid to me to have a noose around a girls neck with the threats of that if she leaves she loses her identity. Tera got to keep her name for a reason it’s be cause it’s not ethical to take a girls name that belongs to her. What good is a name if the girls not attached to it? I have no respect for any company that treats the girls with these threats without them they wouldn’t have a leg to stand on.
> Tricia Deveraux writes: Tera worked for Evil Angel before her DP contract as Tara. So I would assume that Digital Playground would be OK if she went back to spelling her name Tara. Could she use Tara Patrick?
With the reasoning on Devon, about her being Devon before and being able to keep her name, that makes me wonder why Teagan Presley (who’s a friend, but not the brightest bulb) had to be told by several friends to NOT sign her original contract that was drawn up by DP because it would have signed over her name to them for ‘perpetuity’. (That’s forever for all of you who don’t have a legal dictionary sitting next to you.)
> Jewel De’Nyle adds: I’m not just talking on Devon’s behalf you’re missing the point or at least going around it. I feel any performer who’s name is clearly attached to them belongs to them no matter who’s promoting it as it’s not valuable to you if the girls not with the company all it does is on DP’s part is control the girl so she won’t leave due to fear of having to start over. It’s not fair to the girls, and who is DP without them? Or any company for the matter. You can try to justify it all you want but if a girl leaves what good is the name if she’s not there to promote it? She’s still going to have her fan base and still make movies with our without your help and the fans will look down on a company that tries to punish their girls if they leave. Sounds like slavery to me. And I used Tera in a movie way before she was with DP under the name Tera Patrick and have proof of it as many other studio’s do as well so trying to say she was someone else before DP is just stupid there are many covers she was on with the name Tera Patrick way before DP even appeared on the scene. So what if she used a diffrent name in a couple of titles she was still Tera before DP and that’s been proved that’s why DP couldn’t take her name and try to ruin their cash cows career even though they did everything in their power to. I don’t respect such a practice as a business owner and as former talent I say shame on you for taking any girls name!
> Jenna Jameson writes: Hey Digital… Does this mean Wicked should own my name?????I am a business woman and have MANY contract girls, and would NEVER take it upon myself or my company to include ownership of a woman. It’s just not ethical. Bottom line… My opinion….
> Tricia Devereaux writes:I saw Teagan’s original proposed contract, and it would have required her to sign away ownership of her performing name to DP forever.
Jenna – From what I’ve heard you’ve been doing things pretty well with how you’re handling having contract girls. Maybe it’s because you were one for so long that you have a better idea of how to treat them and still be good to both them and your company at the same time.
Not that Evil Angel is a feature company, so it wouldn’t quite make sense for us to have a bunch of contract girls anyway, but one of the reasons we don’t is because we know that sometimes all of the egos involved can get a little difficult, and we don’t really want to deal with that. Heck, dealing with contract directors can be a tiny bit difficult.I do know though that when we take on a director, John sits down with them and explains every single aspect of the terms of the deal with them. If they have any questions whatsoever, John does everything he can to make sure that they are comfortable with the terms. And I don’t care if we take on a director who already had a huge name (like John Leslie did) or a newer director who didn’t already have a huge market… we would never think it was right to keep the director’s name, or the names of any of his product titles. He is free to take everything that he has worked so hard on with him. And we showed what our word meant when Jules Jordan started his own company and retained ownership and started distribution of every single one of his movies that we originally distributed for him.
Different businesses, different ethics system. Different products, different needs for a PR machine.Go To Top
> Crucifixio Jones writes: I think anyone who knows me personally probably knows what’s about to follow: the adult business is so much like professional wrestling. The similarities are downright eerie.
It’s kinda screwed up for a company to own a performers name but in the long run, it’s good business. WWE owns its performers’ names. They are copyrighted, registered trademarks because in Vince McMahon’s (who, if you squint bears an almost uncanny resemblance to Vivid’s Steve Hirsch) eyes his employees are actors paid to play a character on television. Mark Calloway can’t go to another company and be The Undertaker. Why? Because Vince invested countless man hours, dollars and God only knows what else in getting that character over, printing up t-shirts, foam fingers, action figures and other merchandise.
I’d be damned if I just allow that to walk away so that another company could reap the benefits. So I see the rationale behind it even if I don’t think there’s a need for it in PORN. No former contract star is gonna take money out of a company’s pocket by performing elsewhere and continuing to use the name that her fans know her by.
McMahon has dressed other performers up and had them play previous used characters/gimmicks before. I think if an American porn company tried that, it’d be silly. In wrestling, the defection of a known “name” can cost you millions of viewers. I doubt that much is true in porn. If in four or five years, DP brings new girls into the fold and trots them out as the “new” Jesse Jane and Sophia Santi, I think they’d be doing more harm than good (not to mention making me simultaneously laugh and vomit at the ploy…even moreso than I did at VCA’s “Britney Rears” stunt).
A lot of times, their “name” is all the identity a porn star has. Just because they worked for you or attained their popularity under you doesn’t give you the right to OWN that. I know I don’t run a company but for God’s sake, I wouldn’t be so roach as to not let a person who performed me in good faith and made me just as much money as I made for them (after all, they’re the ones doing the fucking, not you) and not allow them something as simple as their name. Have some dignity, folks.
> Dr. Nasty writes: WOW! In less then a day there has been an overwhelming response in this thread.
First off I’d like to say hello and thank you to Tricia, Jewel and of course the lovely Jenna Jameson. I didn’t know how to…..explain how wrong this situation is and how bad it makes companies look who do this to the girls that bust their asses for them. And then you three swoop in at just the right time to reinforce what I’ve been saying all along.
The bottom line for any company is this. You can’t use the name(in a manner of speaking) if its not attached to the girl or woman that maintained it for all those years. So why? WHY do you want it so badly? YOU DON’T NEED IT. Its useless to you. Even if you and the girl(whomever she may be) created the name together, why does she not *deserve* to take it with her after so faithfully working for you guys and fulfilling her contract to completion. It sounds a bit selfish to me that a company can’t move on after that.
I think this…..debate has escalated beyond Devon and Tera and has gone into something bigger. Its all about control. In any industry. One of the company’s(not all) main goals is to be able to control their talent. Having girls sign or tricking them into signing contracts like these is a way to get in control by basically saying “hey if you don’t do what we want when we want, we will take everything from you. Thank god there are still some great, ethical companies out there like Evil Angel and great business women like Tricia, Jewel and Jenna that don’t take advantage. If it was something tangible or an item or something physical, that could be used, and a girl signed it away. Then sure you deserve it in the end. But a name does you no good in the long run.
SIGH! This is so troublesome