egafd.com

It is NOT illegal to produce content in the UK

It is however a legal requirement for you to have it RATED by BBFC

If it is R18 rated, then obviously it can only be sold via a licensed sex shop.


Shipping from outside the UK does NOT get around the OPA or the VRA

Anything classed as Obscene, and the police will prosecute the "facilitator". This could be the content producer, the distributor or even the fulfilment house who posted it !!!.. Depends on where they can build the strongest case.

Thanks for the advice some of you. It seems there is a work around - my website is a .com not .co.uk and if this domain is owned by an overseas company and the DVDs distributed by an overseas company then it appears no UK laws (providing the material isn't obscene - i.e. child or rape stuff) would apply - even if the original content was produced in this country. Otherwise you would be saying that an American producer shooting a film in London but going back home and distributing it over the internet from there for his American company would be bound be the BBFC - nonsense!
The key factor here seems to be A) is the material obscene and B) can the UK authorities prove it is a UK company owning / distributing it via mail order.
The answer in both cases is no - the content just features British girls shot in British locations by hired British cameramen.

I think there is some confusion between DVDs and Internet Sites.

IANAL but..

As I understand it ALL DVDs sold in the UK must be put through the BBFC, and R18 cannot be sold except through the sex shops.

Internet Sites don't need to involved the BBFC and are covered by the Obscenity rules, which means that pretty much anyone COULD get into trouble, but in practice you'd have to be showing pretty nasty stuff.

Has anyone every been done for a mainstream type porn site?

Lol - maybe it is me who is being confusing, but thanks for the reply anyway Paul. I WAS talking about DVD only and not internet sites (when I referred to distributing it via the internet, I meant that the DVDs are going to be sold on internet sites).
You say that all DVDs sold into the UK market should be governed by the BBFC but this is not the case. I have ordered dozens of DVDs from America with no certification from ANY governing body whatsoever, let along the British governing body.

Can anyone point us in the right direction of any internet sites that list information on the dos and donts of distributing adult DVDs via mail order in the UK?

It's been quite a while since I've posted on this site but I've been lurking for a couple of weeks so I thought I'd break my silence with this topic.

For any of you that remember me then I worked for Simply both in the UK and Spain and I have done my time under the OPA so I know it quite well and I can give an informed opinion.

Danny30 if you wish to sell any DVD's by mail order/internet in the UK that are hardcore then you simply can't. If they are R18's then they can only be sold by licenced sex shops and if they are unclassified then you can't do that for definite and that's a more serious offence as well.

As for selling them from overseas then many have set up offshore companies to get around this but you are still liable to prosecution if you live in the UK unless you cover all your tracks.

Ask yourself why Tabor, Your Choice, Simply, Blissbox et al are all based in mainland Europe when they aim most of their market at the UK?

There is an obvious answer.

If the American sells your DVD's on their website and it's independent to your website then I can't see how you could get nicked. However if you have links from your own UK based website to that US site then you could, in theory anyway, get nicked for that.

In truth you'd have to be staggeringly unlucky to get nicked for any of this but the threat remains, however small that maybe and you need to be aware of this.

If you need any more help then feel free to ask before I fade off into the sunset again.

PS. Keith, if you are reading this and I know you lurk on here as you told me you do, then lets not bullshit each other anymore. You knew who was behind this nickname from the start and I knew you knew even though I tried to confuse you a few times and throw you off the scent (so to speak) but I knew it never worked.

A while back I purposely made an inflammatory remark about you so as to flush you out of the woodwork when we both knew it was 95% certain to be Vidshop and you took the bait like an absolute trooper.

I did that as I was 95% certain you knew and I was curious to know for 100% and it worked.

Also remember I kept my mouth shut about all of you when the old bill came calling so do me a favour and don't be churlish and answer the occasional emails I send you which are 1 or 2 a year at the most.

I might email you in a week or 2 so why not surprise me and answer that email for a change. Better still email me and we can talk things over as we parted on not the best terms and I'm not one for grudges.

Finally! Some common sense real world advice rather than the "I swallowed the BBFC bible" crap everyone else is spouting. Thanks for the advice Eduardo. It is refreshing on this forum which each day serves to show why UK porn cannot challenge the rest of the world.
Rather than thinking of a way round a problem like a TRUE ENTREPRENEUR, 99% of the so-called "producers" on this forum and in the British adult industry just creep back under their rocks rather than trying to think of a solution.
"The BBFC says it's not allowed so that's the end of it" - what a croc! Get some spines guys - "man up" as the Americans would say. If it's not allowed in the UK but our competitors from overseas are doing it - think of a way of competing with them, don't skulk away and feel sorry for yourselves.
Nelson, Rayleigh, Churchill . . they would be turning over in their graves seeing what has happened to the British fighting spirit.
If it means overseas companies, if it means overseas distribution agreements, whatever the answer is . . I will find it and I will take on the yanks cos I am British and proud of it - and no Euro-friendly bullshit governing body is going to stop me competing globally.
Where there's a will there's a way . . remember that people . . MAN UP!

Danny what did you ask for, then slag them off. look at my background, I suppose I am just one of those producers who put 200 movies through the BBFC. I bet the whole industry is trembling at the arrival of you dynamic marketing. I bet Jerry and Jacco will be out of business in a week. Your PR is close to suicidal good luck, me thinks you will need it.

Phil McC