Vivid Entertainment, one of the biggest producers of pornography in the U.S., is suing Los Angeles County in federal court to overturn a new law requiring actors to wear condoms during filming.
Universal City-based Vivid Entertainment LLC claims that the Measure B condom requirement passed by voters last fall violates actors' rights to free speech and expression.
They seek to overturn the newly-passed Los Angeles County ballot measure requiring that porn producers purchase public health permits to film in the county, and mandate condom use as a condition of that permit. The ordinance took effect in December, but the county has not decided how to enforce the law.
"Overturning this law is something I feel very passionate about. I believe the industry's current testing system works well," Steven Hirsch, founder and co-chairman of Vivid, said.
Paul Cambria, an attorney with Lipsitz Green Scime Cambria, representing Vivid and a veteran First Amendment attorney, maintains that regulating activity on adult film sets is the responsibility of the state's Division of Occupational Safety and Health and not the county.
He also said that the industry has a testing system in place for sexually transmitted diseases and that is a safety net for performers and the general population.
"Since 2004 over 300,000 explicit scenes have been filmed with zero HIV transmission. The new law makes no sense and it imposes a government licensing regime on making films that are protected by the Constitution," Cambria said.
Michael Weinstein, president of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, disagrees. "This is not a free speech issue. This is a workplace safety issue. If they want to digitally remove a condom from the final cut of a film, there's no issue."
The push for Measure B was led by the AIDS Healthcare Foundation, which issued a statement Friday saying the measure is not directed at First Amendment rights but safety in a commercial enterprise.
"Their First Amendment claims will likely ring hollow with the court," said Tom Myers, chief of public affairs and general counsel for the foundation.
The plaintiff also contends that Measure B will also force companies out to other counties and countries where there are no restrictions on the industry making the county lose revenue.
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