Is It Illegal to Make Pornography in North Carolina?

Lawyers Weekly ran a brief article a couple of months ago about the above question. The article is here, behind a paywall. What follows is my own analysis of the issue.

Obscenity. The first issue, and the only one addressed by Lawyers’ Weekly, is whether making pornographic movies would violate the obscenity statutes. Specifically, G.S. 14-190.5 makes it a misdemeanor knowingly to “[p]hotograph [oneself] or any other person, for purposes of preparing an obscene film . . . for the purpose of dissemination” or knowingly to “[m]odel[], pose[], act[], or otherwise assist[] in the preparation of any obscene film . . . for the purpose of dissemination.”

At first glance, that might seem to cover the production of pornography, but Lawyers’ Weekly quoted several lawyers, most of whom waffled on the question. The waffling was entirely justified, because G.S. 14-190.1 defines material as obscene only if it depicts sexual conduct in a “prurient” and “patently offensive way” that “lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.” Those terms are incredibly vague, but, of course, are constitutionally required. Miller v. California, 413 U.S. 15 (1973) (establishing the boundaries of obscenity for purposes of the First Amendment). Courts have often found pornographic material to fall outside the definition of obscenity, so at least some pornography probably could be produced in North Carolina without running afoul of the obscenity laws.

Prostitution. But perhaps there is another way to approach the issue. Could producing pornography involve a violation of the prostitution laws? Under G.S. 14-203, prostitution includes having sex or performing any sexual act “for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification for any money or other consideration,” and there’s a reasonable argument that the people depicted in a pornographic video are doing just that.

Case law from other states suggests that the argument isn’t a slam dunk, though. The best-known case in this area is People v. Freeman, 46 Cal.3d 419 (Cal. 1988), where the Supreme Court of California reversed the conviction of a pornography producer under the state’s pandering for prostitution laws. The court found no evidence that the producer paid the actors for the purpose of sexual arousal or gratification. Essentially, the purpose was making money, and any sexual arousal or gratification was incidental. That strikes me as debatable. If I hire a company to trick out a food truck for my planned mobile donut business, most people would say that I paid the company for the purpose of building a truck, even if my ultimate objective is to make money by selling donuts. And Freeman itself cites cases from other states that come to other conclusions.

Even if there were a violation of the prostitution statutes, the Freeman court continued, “the application of the pandering statute to the hiring of actors to perform in the production of a nonobscene motion picture would impinge unconstitutionally upon First Amendment values.” I think that’s debatable too. If the conduct depicted is otherwise criminal, the First Amendment doesn’t protect it just because it is filmed. In fact, if that were the law, couldn’t a prostitute operate legally simply by being her own “director,” recording the proceedings and giving the recording to the customer?

The bottom line is more waffling. Charging those involved in producing pornography with violating the prostitution laws is a possibility but would raise legal issues. Readers, what do you think of this approach?

Further reading, no pictures. A Rutgers law professor argues that making pornography is protected by the First Amendment and doesn’t constitute prostitution here. Slate asserts here that “[p]orn stars are paid to act,” not to have sex. Also perhaps worth a look are Tonya R. Noldon, Note, Challenging First Amendment Protection of Adult Films with the Use of Prostitution Statutes, 3 Va. Sports and Ent. L.J. 310 (2004), and Jason Shachner, Note, Unwrapped, 24 Health Matrix 345 (2014) (stating that only California and New Hampshire clearly protect the right to produce pornography).

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