> Ric Williams posted the following on www.pornstarperformance.com: About Agents

There is a lot of misconception about booking talent. In California it is against the law for anyone to book talent other than a licensed talent agent. It is not easy to get a talent agency license from the state, for good cause. You have to go through an extensive background check including criminal and credit. Then you have to have a commercial business address (not your bedroom), have to post a $50,000 performance bond along with many other requirements. A licensed talent agency has a FEIN (Federal Employers Identification Number) so we can accept payment from producers and pay the talent minus our commission. We have to maintain a clients trust account for the money that we collect on behalf of our clients.

We must maintain records on bookings and money transactions as the state has the right to inspect our records at any time. In short, we are professionals. So, who in the adult industry are licensed?: As far as I know, LA Direct, Lighthouse Talent, Tera Patrick Agency and Black idow Talent Agency (www.blackwidowmodels.com) are the only licensed talent agencies. The enforcement of the Talent Agencies Act is left mainly up to the talent. They can report if they have been booked by an unlicensed agent to the State Labor Commissioner and the unlicensed agent will be required to return all commissions paid to him/her for the past 12 months. In mainstream this is the principal enforcement measure although the DIR has informed me that they are looking into practices in the adult industry. My challenge to those unlicensed managers/agents is to go through the process, get licensed and not have the state breathing down our necks for illegal practices or get into another line of work.

Ric Williams, Black Widow Talent Agency

> Dino Velvet writes on www.xxxporntalk.com: Wonder if any performers will be doing any digging around to find out if whom every they have been paying in the past for their bookings is appropriately licensed. I am sure they would LOVE to make a windfall collecting back any percentages previously paid out. It would be a sort of a tax refund check from the IRS or a government incentive program that those people in the “square world” would receive and I am most certain that they wouldn’t hesitate to “rat” these individuals out for some fast $$$!!!!

>porn law writes: Im betting they wouldnt. Its a small community and if you’re talent thats like biting the hand that feeds you. The “agent community” within the adult community is so small it would be career suicide to do so. Theres really only about 4-6 agents that can really get a lot of work for their performers and they all know each other.

If you were an agent would you take on a performer knowing that in essence they just sued their last agent. I doubt it.

But if you are a performer out of the biz and would like some extra cash and doesnt ever see her/himself working again, then perhaps.

This falls under the “just because you can doesnt mean you should” category in life.

> Dan G writes: I agree with pornlaw that this is only really of interest to performers who are getting out with no plans of ever coming back (although sometimes it doesn’t work like that…).

However, I think everyone is overlooking something…claiming against agency fees will reveal how much said performer actually earned (from performing, at least) over the time period, which might not tally up to the figures they gave the IRS…

> porn law writes back: Thats a great point I hadnt considered. Most performers dont even file taxes. Another good reason not to do it.

Michael

>Dino Velvet writes: What I was insinuating was outside of the 4-6 agents that also really know each other and are permitted to perform functions that they do as agents. The other ones would be the ones that active talent would go after.

I agree with you on the career suicide point otherwise.

Like I said I understand about the 4-6 real “legit” agents but if you look at a listing of agents/managers open to the general public some people maybe confused-

http://www.thefloatingworld.com/thebiz.html

> porn law returns volley: I wasnt talking about the “legit” agents. I can as attorney start an agency today without having to be licensed by California and I would be a “legit” agency. Attorneys do not need to be licensed since we are already licensed and regulated by the State Bar. But good luck with me finding work for performers. There are non-legit agencies that actually find more work for their talent than the so called “legit” ones. Those are the ones I am speaking of. Perhaps only 1-2 are licensed and bonded.