MelRose Michaels Interviews Corey Silverstein
Blog Post Written By: MelRose Michaels
Corey Silverstein is the adult industry's premier IT attorney since 2006, representing websites, hosts, processors, ad networks, and more. He is the founder and managing partner of the law firm Silverstein Legal, the best source for legal representation relating to the adult industry. Additionally, he founded adult.law, a low-cost monthly membership service for adult entrepreneurs to access legal resources and expertise, a robust library of legal, policy, and business information that speaks to the specific needs of those working in the adult industry, along with regular updates and briefings on new policies and case law, as the legal landscape of the adult industry is constantly in flux.
MelRose Michaels sat down with Corey in a live Sex Work CEO Twitter Space recently to talk about topics such as content ownership, collaboration, and the current laws surrounding pornography distribution and the role of 2257.
MelRose: Today, we have guest Corey Silverstein joining us, who is one of, if not the most, active legal experts in the adult industry. He also represents most of the platforms that we're all on actively, as well as the creators themselves, which is unique. Corey has over 19 years of experience in adult industry representation and is president of Silverstein Legal. You can visit his website myadultattorney.com - his legal subscription service for creators, which is adult.law which specifically provides legal information to independent content creators like you and me. He is viewed as the premier attorney in the space and has been featured in countless press all over the world. And also full disclosure, he represents small fish like myself. So everyone, please welcome Corey Silverstein. Let's start with the overarching umbrella conversation: what are the current laws around pornography in terms of distribution, and then ultimately kind of where the 2257 comes into play?
Corey: That's a phenomenal question. And I mean, it's a very deep question. Because when you mentioned content collaborations, if you look back to when I started in the industry, which was 19 years ago there were no websites like OnlyFans and Loyalfans and those sorts of sites that allowed performers to take full control of their destiny. Back when I started in the industry, porn creation was very standard. You had a director and producer, and they would hire the talent. The talent would come to the set, the content would be produced, and that would be the end of it. But now we have this incredible world where content creators are truly the kings of their castles. And that's presented an incredible opportunity, but it also presented a lot of challenges because, for those performers and content creators who used to create content in the more conventional way, they left it up to the companies they were working for to take care of all the legal compliance, the paperwork and all that fine jazz. Now it's a different world. And now that all of these content creators are in business for themselves, which is awesome, they have to concern themselves with the business and legal end. And so when you talk about content collaboration, that means you're creating content with someone else. So you get into issues like who owns the content, and who has the right to publish it. And what rights do you need from the person that you're collaborating with. Then, of course, you mentioned 2257, which is the federal law pertaining to age verification; the law exists so that you, someone creating and publishing adult content, have the necessary records to prove that each performer has attained the age of 18 years of age or older.
MelRose: The first thing you mentioned that I want to discuss is if you're going into a collab, who actually owns the content?
Corey: Greatest question. And it's funny because I was just at a trade show in Miami and this question gets asked over and over again. The first thing that you have to do is make sure that you and your partner or partners, depending on if you're dealing with multiple people, have a discussion about who's going to own the work. From a copyright standpoint, it's going to come down to who's actually holding the camera, who's actually creating the content, and that person de facto is going to be your copyright holder. So it's going to come down to your paperwork in terms of who gets to utilize the content, where they can use it, and what sort of rules are going to apply. So one of the things that I always tell content performers, ultimately, the discussion that you're going to have with your co-collaborators is so important. You've got to have that conversation because, ultimately, from a legal perspective, a lawyer who knows what they're doing in this industry will know how to give people the appropriate rights and documentation. Putting it in plain English, we need to know from the collaborators themselves what's your intent? What is it you guys want? So that's the real place to start.
MelRose: If you want each collaborator to have ownership over that content, what does that look like from the legal side?
Corey: From the legal side, when you start getting into copyright, co-authorship, you start getting into some pretty complicated issues that oftentimes can create more problems in the future. Let's use an example of a two-performer collaboration because we can start with that before we start adding, three, four, or more performers, depending on what you're into. So the way I typically do it for my clients is one person will ultimately be the owner, but then the other collaborator will be provided with a full, unrestricted, irrevocable license. So what that means is that for all intents and purposes, the other performer who is part of that collaboration can do whatever they want with the content, they can monetize it, they can post it up on their own site on their fan sites on tube sites, whatever they want, whatever they can think of. And so in essence, from a legal perspective, you have one party that is the owner of the content, you still are giving all of the rights to your collaborator that you want to give. And the other benefit to this…and this again goes back to what I talked about where it's so important that people in collaborations talk about what they want…maybe there are some limitations that you want to put in there. Maybe you don't want the content ending up on a tube site, or you don't want the content ending up in front of a paywall. There are so many different things you can do when it comes to paperwork. When it comes to limitations of use, it's so important that the collaborators are on the same page before they make the content. I've often seen content collaborators where they think they're on the same page, then they create the content, and then all of a sudden, they're not on the same page, and someone gets angry, someone gets mad, and then it turns into a big giant mess. So to avoid all that, it's better that you have everybody on the same page before the content is actually created.
MelRose: Yeah, I can see that and I've actually I've been in that situation myself, too, in my earlier time in the industry. Now I definitely try to do things by the book the right way the first time, but I have rarely been in situations where who owns the content as discussed, or there's some sort of co-authorship or co-licensing agreement that is being signed before content is being created. I would say that rarely, if ever, happens, especially between independent content creators. So when we're talking about someone who owns the content, that's probably the person hitting record. But then you have this co-authorship or co-licensing agreement. Is that something that is a standard form creators can pull off of somewhere and use? Is that something that needs to be written up specifically by a lawyer? And if so, does that mean that every time you go to collab, you need to see a lawyer?
Corey: Do you have to have a lawyer every single time? No. If you have the correct set of documents the first time, then at that point, you can use those documents going forward. So long as there are no changes in the law or so long as you're not varying too differently in what the content rights are going to do. The way I typically do my agreements is I set them up so that, ultimately, a client doesn't have to come to me over and over again. Now, that sounds a little crazy and a little counterproductive for a lawyer, but it's the way I practice law. I have no interest in creating agreements or creating documents so that my clients are forced to come back to me and spend more money. I don't do it like that. I want performers in this industry to be using the correct agreements, and I want them to have the ability to be able to do it right over and over again without having to break the bank, so to speak.
Going back to your original question, yes, there are correct documents, but there are so many bad documents that are floating around. I see people take these forms and trade them and give them to their other collaborators and share them. And they're horrible. And this is where the problem really starts getting worse. So what I do is when a collaborator comes to me, I take the time to understand. Okay, tell me about your business. You need to have your lawyer understand what you're doing. If you're if you don't have a lawyer out there, that, as a first step, figuring out what you're doing, then what the hell you paying for? So, I want to know from the performer how they're creating their content. Where are they creating it? With what methodology are they doing it? And then from there, we build out a document that works for that performer. And I get it all the time that people say "I can't afford to spend X amount of dollars." And what ends up happening is a year later, when they're at a war with their collaborator, and then they're getting sued, or they have to sue, and now you've got to spend $20,000 plus to deal with a dispute in court or arbitration. The number to have these documents done right the first time around is going to be considerably smaller. Now, that doesn't mean that if a content collaborator has something special that they're doing, they can't go back to their lawyer and say, I'm doing something unique that's never been done before. And so, we would want to have an agreement tailored so that we would ensure that even though someone might have raw footage, it doesn't become a problem.
The other big issue is the relationship conundrum. That's what I've called it. And that’s an expression that I started using a long time ago. The fact is if you're doing a content collaboration on a Monday with someone that you're madly in love with, you're in a committed relationship, it's your girlfriend, your boyfriend, your spouse, your partner, whatever, I got news for you. By Wednesday, there's some reason why maybe you guys aren't in that happy hunky-dory relationship anymore. And now, all of a sudden, the excuse that, well, we were in love, so we didn't have paperwork has gone out the window. And I hear this all the time. I don't care if the collaborator that you're creating content with is your partner of 45 years. The fact is, is that again, you never know when a relationship is going to go bad. And it is your paperwork that is going to save you so much legal hassle and heartache. And I deal with it all the time, Mel. Whether it's through couples getting divorced, whether it's infidelity, whether it's just because two people get sick of each other. I mean, God, who's ever heard of that concept? Right? Two people getting sick of each other.
MelRose: I think this is a really important segue. Let me back up before I move on because I do want to touch on that collaborator aspect of partnerships, too. What is the formal name of an agreement like this, where there would be a co-licensing agreement on top of whoever owns the copyright?
Corey: It depends. Sometimes it might be a license agreement. Sometimes it might be a simple performer release. Sometimes it might be a collaboration agreement. It really depends on the circumstance. And again, this is where so many people are doing it wrong, because they try to take one form that's labeled as whatever, and then they try to make the form squeeze into their situation. That's not the way it's supposed to go. You're supposed to build your contract around what it is you're doing. And this is a dangerous epidemic that we've seen. One of the funnier examples is I've seen collaborators use my forms because they saw it somewhere else and they decided they were going to use it or mutilate it. They try to modify it, and I basically end up calling it mutilation. Think of it as one of the worst horror movies you can think of. Like one of the movies where someone's mouth gets moved to the side, the nose removed, and the ear removed. That's what people have done to my agreements. And they're like, "Oh, this is great. We have this agreement." No, it's totally wrong. It's been gutted. It doesn't even cover what you guys are doing.
MelRose: And I want to touch on this too because it sounds like a co-licensing form or photo release has to be specific to the case or to what you are about to do in terms of content and really having your ducks in a row. But I did want to ask, if someone takes one of your forms offline and edits it to try to fit their circumstance of what they're going to shoot in terms of collaboration, is that even enforceable?
Corey: Well, that's another question. Because a lot of times the content creators are based all over the United States and the world. The laws regarding intellectual property and performer releases are not the same in every state and in every jurisdiction. In fact, if you're in California, you've got 20 other problems you have to worry about. And the documents you're going to need when you're in California are actually completely different than the documents in all the other states. And so this is another area where I see people screwing up. They take one of these documents and think, “Perfect, this covers me”. And then they send it to me. And I say, did you notice that you guys have a provision in here that says that the laws of Taiwan apply? This was a form that wasn't built for two people creating content in the state of Florida. This document was created for people who were creating content in Taiwan. So then you have a major problem.
MelRose: I do want to touch on another aspect of this because this is something you and I personally went through when I was negotiating a contract. I think a lot of creators don't realize within contracts, agreements, or release forms, which things need to be litigated. Can you speak to that a little bit?
Corey: First things first, if you take away anything from this, remember that until you sign the contract, everything is negotiable. So when someone sends over their agreement to use, don't think for a second that you have to sign it. All the terms are negotiable. If you're not in a position where you feel confident enough to negotiate, reach out to me, and I'll negotiate it for you. If you don't feel comfortable contacting me, my suggestion to you is to reach out to some of the other tremendous individuals in this industry. Always feel that you can negotiate. If you don't like something in an agreement, you've got two options. You can negotiate and try to get something that you're content with. Two, don't sign it, and don't shoot with that person. There are more than enough people in this world who are willing to create content. Don't ever feel obliged if someone tries to push you or try to encourage you to agree to terms that you're not comfortable with.
MelRose: 100%. I think that's where you and I had met on what I was working on in terms of where things had to be litigated. When we were negotiating something in the litigation aspect, if things were to go awry, I was actually overseas in another country, which means I would have had to incur those expenses and travel overseas to fight this if it was to go south. And it never occurred to even think twice about that, whereas you were very adamant that we need to litigate this here. We would have a benefit there, one in cost and two in being in that jurisdiction.
Corey: Exactly. And this is where you have to look at these provisions. They're called venue selection clauses and contracts. And it dictates if there's a dispute between the two parties, where is that dispute going to be resolved? So if one of you is located in New York but someone puts a contract in front of you that says, if there's a dispute, you guys are going to resolve that dispute in Italy. Well, I got news for you. It's going to get really expensive really quickly because you're going to have to pay the fees associated with litigating a case in Italy. And people miss those provisions all the time. And again, you want to be in a position where if something does go wrong, and you are going to need to resolve a conflict, if you live in New York, NY, I don't really think you want to litigate a case in Italy.
MelRose: 100%. Now, Corey, I do want to jump in here and narrow down our focus a little bit on the 2257 documents. To start, let's just talk about what they are for some of the new creators who are here listening today.
Corey: What you have to do with 2257 is that if you're publishing content, you need to have requisite documents to prove that all of the performers in your depiction were 18 years of age or older at the time the content was created. So how do you do that? Really straightforward. All you need is one form of United States-issued government ID. So that's going to mean a driver's license or a passport. Your local credit card that may or may not have your picture is not going to suffice. So what you have to do is make sure that you have clear copies of those identification cards so that if the US government ever wants to do a search to ensure that you have records to prove that everyone in your depiction is 18, you've got them. The other thing that you should have is a 2257 records-keeping form. And this is a form that will help keep you organized. The document will include such things as the date of production, the names of the people in it, the birthdays of the people in it, and what IDs were used in order to verify that the person was 18 years of age. Another big catch, it has to be a valid ID. So let's just say, for you know, all of you that are here today, today's May 30. As we're doing this live, if someone presents you with an ID that expired on May 29, that ID is not valid. And you are not in compliance with 2257 record-keeping. So making sure that you have a copy of the government-issued ID and your documents so that you have the requisite information is going to be key. It’s not that hard. And this is one of the things that frustrate me as a lawyer, that I think some people have really overcomplicated 2257.
Outside the fact that you need to do it because 18 USC 2257 is a federal law that has a criminal penalty with it (that's right. First offense up five years in federal prison). Outside of that, let's say down the road, you want to sell your content, your library, your website, or whatever you want to do, the first thing that someone acquiring your assets is going to be is going to say, Okay, send us over a copy of all of your 2257 documents. And if you say you don't have it, you no longer have a sellable asset. No one is going to buy adult entertainment content, whether it's video or imagery, without the necessary 2257 records.
MelRose: This is like a very macro part of this that I think is really interesting to discuss because all the creators that are following Sex Work CEO are the most business-savvy adult creators that there are. They're the ones trying to constantly improve, build real businesses, and approach things like an entrepreneur. So when you talk about big ideas such as selling your library or selling an asset, that is really important because I think a lot of creators are just getting by on their day-to-day. They're not really looking at the longevity of their business, like “I'm building something I could sell one day. I can actually exit what I've done and make some money off of it.” So I think that's a really good distinction.
I do want to double back on the valid ID thing because there's a lack of clarity around creators who think that if the ID was valid at the time of filming, that's enough. And that some are confused about if you always have to keep a valid ID on file every year, every time it expires. Can you clarify that?
Corey: This is where things get a little bit tricky because there's a combination of two things. You have the 2257 record-keeping requirement, which requires a valid ID at the time of production. So what this means is that if in the example I gave you earlier, (remember the May 29, for example), the ID was invalid on May 29, come May 30, you can no longer use that particular ID. So every time that you create content, you need to make sure that the ID is valid. The second issue is that times have changed tremendously in this industry. Visa and MasterCard are putting an immense amount of pressure on content platforms. I cannot tell you how many hours, days, and weeks I have spent on the phone with platforms in the last year, getting them caught up with Visa and MasterCard regulations. The fact is, is that Visa and MasterCard control the industry. People say, "Whoa, Corey, why are you saying that?” Because the fact is, is that 99% of adult entertainment transactions go through credit cards, which are Visa and MasterCard, which means Visa and MasterCard are not a government. They are publicly traded, but they're a private company, they can make up whatever rules they want. And if they tell the platforms that there are certain things they have to have in their records, including a valid up to date ID. So for those of you that recently got a request from the platform, you're uploading to saying, “Hey, your ID expired, we need a new one.” That's kind of a combination of a 2257 issue and a Visa MasterCard issue. It kind of falls into two categories.
MelRose: I do want to also discuss this other piece that I think a lot of creators aren't aware of because this is something that I did not come into the industry know, especially not at the beginning of the time I actually started, which is venturing off into collab content. But there are actual requirements. Not just about having and getting a 2257 and validating all that, but also how you store your 2257. So can we talk about that?
Corey: 2257 specifically needs to be organized in a certain format. There was a lawsuit that the Free Speech Coalition was one of the lead plaintiffs. And ultimately, in that case, one of the things that came out of it is that warrantless inspections of 2257 records were not permissible. So if someone wants to do an inspection of your 2257 records, they're going to have to go to a federal magistrate or judge and get a warrant first. The issue that a lot of people have is that there's a component in the 2257 record-keeping statute that requires your records to be organized in a certain manner, meaning that if the government wants to come in and they want to be able to search a record by the date, or if they want to search a record by one of the performers aliases (i.e. stage name), you have to be able to do that. So you have to be able to access any record very quickly, and it has to be organized in the way that the statute tells you to. Again, this is one of those things that doesn't have to be the hardest thing in the world; it actually can be quite simple. It just really comes down to making sure that you're doing it right. Thankfully, to date, we've never seen a technical violation of the statute prosecuted, meaning we haven't seen the US government prosecute anyone because they didn't keep their records in a certain order. But that doesn't mean, based on what we're seeing with the US government's very conservative approach right now, you never know when the government's going to try to utilize one of the weapons at its disposal. And this is another reason why I continue to encourage everyone. And I say this again, it's not that hard. And if you don't know how, no problem. There's no shame in that. You know, when you first get into this business, nobody knows everything right from the start. You reach out to someone like me or reach out to someone else in the industry who knows how to do it right and learn it. Don't just do it by trial and error. Because when it comes to 2257, we're talking about a criminal statute so the consequences aren't going to be very friendly.
MelRose: When so when we're talking about storing 2257s, is there a discrepancy between having them stored printed physically in a filing cabinet or a discrepancy between it being okay to have them in a digital format on a cloud or something like that?
Corey: Here's where it also gets complicated. This is another thing that I tell my clients to be careful about. Things that happen in this world that we can't predict. Everyone lives in different places in the world. Some of you live on a coast where you know, you might be subject to hurricanes or flooding or whatever. And if you're only keeping paper records, and for whatever reason, you get hit with a flood and you lose all your paper records, guess what? As we talked about before, your content library is now basically worthless. And let's say you're a digital person, and you keep all your records on a Mac Store external hard drive, I have no idea whether Mac Store external hard drives even exist anymore. I think I had one 20 years ago. But let's hypothetically say that's the only place you're keeping your records, and your hard drive fails, which hardware failures are basically an everyday occurrence. So, candidly, having both is probably the safest way to go. If you can do simple things to protect yourself. Why not do it? It’s not that hard.
MelRose: Absolutely. The other part of that is if you really are approaching your business like a business, you should really be aware of where things are vulnerable and what threats there are potentially to what you're building. So I think just knowing that and taking on that responsibility of like, okay, this is my business, I'm taking it seriously. These are the things that could jeopardize my business; let's safeguard them. I think that's a really important thing to keep in mind. I want to also ask, is there a statute or a time for how long you need to keep records or how long dating back?
Corey: It depends on if the content is still up, then it, in essence, is forever. But if the content comes down, then you have to hold them for a certain period of time, and then you can dispose of them. But for that, what I always tell clients is for that particular issue, about when you can destroy 2257 records is to always talk to legal counsel ahead of time. Because even though the statute might say you're clear to dispose of the records because your content has been down for x period of time, that doesn't mean you're still not going to want to hang on to them for potential civil liability protection. So that's one of those categories where you should talk to an attorney because remember that you're dealing with very sensitive records. And another thing, I was presented earlier today with a potential client that reached out to my office, and they gave me one of these forms that's being kicked around right now. And this particular form was asking for social security numbers on a 2257 form. Where does it say in the statute anywhere that you're supposed to be collecting a social security number? In fact, it clearly says that you're not supposed to collect unnecessary information. And on top of that, you're putting yourself and you're putting the performer at risk of having their social security number exposed in the event of a data breach. Some of these so-called forms out there, not only are they not going to protect you, some of them can actually put you in harm's way.
MelRose: That's an interesting segue because we're talking about privacy breaches and things of that nature. The Quick2257 app that I've used essentially leaves you room to fill out the 2257 form, type of photo release, and all of that, and then it will email it to you and the other performer. Is there any risk to facilitating 2257s in that way or is it safe?
Corey: It is. Quick2257 was an app that was developed by my colleague, Larry Walters. I believe he charges a whopping 99 cents for the app. It's very easy to use. Yes, it's perfectly fine. It's perfectly safe. And that is more than an acceptable way. Because in that particular instance, the records are being taken in per the regulations that were reviewed and studied by my colleague, Larry. And so yes, that's perfectly fine.
I've also seen some people do some crazy stuff with 2257 records that's just totally inappropriate. I saw one company where they were trying to send one specific 2257 record. And unfortunately, the way their database worked, they checked the wrong box, and they ended up sending all of the 2257 records for every performer to this individual. There are a lot of things that can go wrong. There are a lot of security concerns that can happen. But when it comes to that, there's there is a responsibility that I believe every company and every person in the adult entertainment industry has. The fact is that performers are heavily targeted. The majority of people who buy your content and watch your entertainment are good people. They're watching you for the entertainment value; they're watching you because they want to pay for it. But unfortunately, there are bad people in this world. And these people are looking for every inch to try to hurt you, to try to expose you, to try to meet you, or whatever is going on upstairs in their heads. And you have to be savvy that those people are out there. And you have to be cognizant of the fact that those people might be out there wanting to hurt you.
Above all else, your individual performer safety is the most important thing. So if you're ever in a situation where a service or someone is asking you for an unnecessary document, or you become even remotely concerned about the safety of that product, you need to stop right there. That should be your giant red sign. Don't just sign up for products and services you find online because someone offers you a 90/10 payout. Go ask people in the industry. “Have you ever used that product? Do you know who's behind that product?” Because I'm going to tell you right now, as you know, I've represented I can't even tell you how many performers over the years that have been doxxed, stocked, you name it. And often, it comes from the performer, giving information to someone they quite candidly trusted or thought they could trust. And so that goes back to one of my original recommendations: don't be afraid to lean on other people in the industry. And I'm telling you that if you reach out to them, they're not going to tell you to go away. They don't want to see bad or harm come your way. They want to help you and will tell you if you're about to do business with someone you've never heard of, or if they have a reputation for being bad, or there's a history of data privacy violations or exposure. This is key here.
MelRose: That is where Sex Work CEO stems from - making sure we have a community resource that is trusted, relied upon, and can share information like what we're doing right now. I think that you've hit on it perfectly. I wanted to talk a little bit about consent checklists in the industry. I think consent checklists are really useful. I find them really important but I don't necessarily know in terms of legality, if they do or don't do anything outside of outlining what you guys are going to do. Can you speak to that?
Corey: Check checklists are good and they're bad. Checklists are good because there are certain items when you're creating content that is an absolute necessity that you want to make sure you have. So if you have a checklist of things that you absolutely need, such as your performer relief, 2257 record-keeping form, location release, and certain things that are absolutely necessary, they're great. But here's the problem. Sometimes when you have a checklist, you start living by that checklist. A checklist doesn't excuse not using the most powerful muscle in your body, which is your brain. And oftentimes, you'll be in a situation where the situation itself might dictate you might require some extra measures, depending on the level of sexual contact. STI testing is something that might be necessary sometimes, depending on what level of contact is occurring.
I have a conversation with a lot of my Findom customers out there. Findom is one of those areas where there is a lot of money and popularity right now, but there are a lot of pitfalls. And if you start relying too heavily on checklists, you might actually do something that's going to get you into trouble. I could see checklists getting into trouble in Findom a little bit.
MelRose: Say you're in a BDSM or Domme situation, and you have gone through this consent checklist and said, “Yes, I consent to this during our scene. No, I don't consent to this.” Do those consent checklists come into play, legally speaking, if something should go awry?
Corey: They absolutely do. But there's something better than a consent checklist. A consent video. So one thing that I always recommend to my clients is in addition to having your film material or whatever technology you're using to record your content, you should have a second camera system going that records the entire interaction between you and everyone you're shooting with. Why? Because the camera speaks volumes. And if shit goes downhill down the road and you're in court and someone is saying something is consensual and something wasn't, you've got the film that's recording the entire interaction between you and your co-performers that will show exactly what happened. I always suggest that you do both on-camera pre-shoot interviews and post-shoot interviews. And what I do for my clients is I actually give them a list of questions that I want them to ask performers on camera, both before and after the scene. Questions like, “Hey, what's your name? Why are you here today? How did you get here today? What exactly are we going to be doing today? Are there any sexual activities that you're not comfortable with that we've discussed and are not going to happen today? What specific sexual acts are going to occur today?” I'm just giving you examples. There are other things that I want. But I can't tell you how many people these interviews have saved in this industry. And I also can't tell you how many people they've broken in this industry. As you guys all know, when a relationship goes bad, shit can really go bad. So you want to have this video so that when one party starts contesting and saying, “Well, no, that wasn't discussed; we were never supposed to do that,” then you've got the video. Same thing for post-production interviews. This is where, “Hey, did you have a good time today? Were you comfortable? Did everything fall within your guidelines? Did we do anything you didn't like? Would you come back and shoot again?” And now you have all these specific issues on video, not just in writing. So my recommendation, again, is kind of a twofold approach where, one, you're recording the entire interaction between the parties. And two, you're recording these essential questions, which in many cases are checklist questions as you called them out both before and after the shoot.
MelRose: That is so incredibly helpful to so many people because if you've never been on a mainstream porn set, that's not something you’ve likely thought about or put into practice. So that alone is such a valuable piece of information that you shared today.
Some parts of the above interview have been condensed or edited for clarity. To hear the full interview with Corey Silverstein, including audience questions, listen to the entire Twitter Space.
Follow Corey Silverstein on Twitter @myadultattorney and Instagram @coreydsilverstein.
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