One of the most often discussed, yet most often misunderstood area of running an adult business is compliance with The Child Protection and Obscenity and Enforcement Act of 1988. This federal law places stringent record-keeping requirements on the producers of sexually explicit materials. The guidelines for enforcing these laws (colloquially known as 2257 Regulations (C.F.R. Part 75), part of the United States Code of Federal Regulations, require producers of sexually explicit material to obtain proof of age for every model they shoot, and retain those records. Federal inspectors may at any time launch inspections of these records and prosecute any infraction.
While the statute seemingly excluded from these record-keeping requirements anyone who is involved in activity that "does not involve hiring, contracting for, managing, or otherwise arranging for, the participation of the performers depicted," the Department of Justice (DOJ) defined an entirely new class of producers known as "secondary producers." According to the DOJ, a secondary producer is anyone who "publishes, reproduces, or reissues" explicit material.
The regulations define the terms "primary producer" and "secondary producer". A primary producer is defined in the set of rules as any person who actually films, videotapes, or photographs a visual depiction of actual or simulated sexually explicit conduct. A "secondary producer" is defined as any person who produces, assembles, manufactures, publishes, duplicates, reproduces, or reissues a book, magazine, periodical, film, videotape, or other matter intended for commercial distribution that contains a visual depiction of actual sexually explicit conduct. Different record-keeping requirements exist for primary versus secondary producers. One may be both a primary and a secondary producer.
The regulations also spell out requirements for the maintenance, categorization, location, and inspection of records, as well as legal grounds for exemption of these requirements. They require that records be maintained for five years after the dissolution of a business that had been required to maintain them.
28 C.F.R. Part 75 requires that, prior to producing a visual depiction of actual or simulated sexually explicit conduct, a primary producer must examine a government-issued picture identification card belonging to each performer in the visual depiction that demonstrates that the performer is 18 years old or older. The primary producer must then record the legal name, any aliases, and the date of birth of the performer, record the date of production of the depiction, and make a copy of the picture identification card. Once production is complete, a copy of the visual depiction must be maintained along with these records. All information on a performer may be redacted other than the name, date of birth, and information that identifies the type and validity of the picture identification card (e.g., drivers license or passport number). All of the primary producer's records for all its visual depictions must also be cross-referenced by name and alias of the performers. If a secondary producer produces a copy of the visual depiction, the secondary producer must obtain from the primary producer the records associated with that depiction. Finally, the visual depiction must be labeled with the producer