SACRAMENTO— from www.fox40.com – The allegations made in court documents obtained by FOX40 are shocking, claiming not only did real estate mogul Michael Lyon record sex acts without the knowledge of his many partners, but the lawsuits also say Lyon sold those sex tapes.

Vivid Entertainment, the company the distributed Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian’s sex tapes says no legitimate studio would touch Lyon’s tapes with a 10-foot-pole.

“If someone is submitting a tape to an adult studio for release and it’s an amateur tape and they don’t have signed release forms, it is very unlikely that a legitimate producer would be interested,” Jackie Martin from Vivid told FOX40.

Martin did say there are plenty of unscrupulous porn producers and hundreds of websites where you can upload your own amateur sex tape. There are also producers outside the United States where the same legal rules don’t apply to the adult industry. But, if one of those foreign producers put a tape on the internet, U.S. law can be applied.

“Once something is on the web, it’s available everywhere in the world – if it involves Americans – they are subject to the law,” Martin said.

Whether the smut secretly recorded by Lyon would interest the appetites of the porn-viewing population – Martin had this to say: “I don’t know who he is, what he looks like, what the women look like, but if he doesn’t have a signed release form and the content isn’t imaginative and doesn’t capture the viewer, it’s very unlikely it’s going to be seen anywhere.”

Back story: from www.kcra.com – SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Three more people have joined a civil lawsuit against former real estate executive Michael Lyon, claiming he secretly videotaped them in his home.

Lyon pleaded guilty earlier this year to videotaping four people during sexual encounters without their consent.

In the latest civil suit filed against Lyon, longtime friends and employees of the Lyon family allege they were secretly videotaped by Michael Lyon, attorney Robert Zimmerman tells KCRA 3.

The court documents, obtained by KCRA 3, state that Lyon videotaped the plaintiffs during the same time period Lyon was convicted of secretly taping prostitutes in his homes in Lake Tahoe and Sacramento County. It goes on to say that clips of all seven plaintiffs show them in “private situations” in the bedrooms and bathrooms of Lyon’s Sacramento and Lake Tahoe homes. One video clip is made up of several clips showing a frequent visitor to Lyon’s home as she showered. The clip is described as “XX” in court documents.

Four plaintiffs filed a lawsuit in Sacramento County court last year.

According to the lawsuit, six women and one man were secretly videotaped in bedroom showers and bathrooms, and recording devices disguised as clock radios were hidden in bathroom vents.

The plaintiffs are seeking unknown punitive damages for humiliation and invasion of privacy, according to the lawsuit.

Lyon’s civil attorney, Rudy Nolan, had not returned KCRA 3’s call as of 4:30 p.m. Friday.

The lawsuit doesn’t just target Lyon. It blames anyone who installed the hidden video cameras in Lyon’s home and the manufacturers of the cameras themselves.

Hidden camera expert Ken Fox told KCRA the lawsuit could have big implications.

“There are several video (camera) seminars, covert and everything else,” said Fox, who owns a spy gadget store and has 21 years of experience with surveillance cameras.

Fox said installers could be held liable, because they should be trained to know not to put hidden cameras in private places, like a bedroom or bathroom.

“There are a lot of laws that people want to learn to follow,” said Fox.

But Fox also believes suing the makers of these cameras would very difficult.

“That would surprise me,” he said. “Because I can’t see how a manufacturer of a covert camera could be held liable when cameras are completely legal in the first place.”

Fox believes the lawsuit will be closely watched by the covert camera industry.