Mail Order DVD legal query

[Danny30]

I run a very successful members site and I now want to distribute my scenes on DVD. I already have a number of online adult DVD websites which want to promote and sell my DVDs but my understanding at the moment is that it would be illegal for me to produce DVDs in the UK for distribution via mail order. Is this correct?
Could I get round this if I got an American company to produce and send out the DVDs or would I still be breaking the law as we are a UK company?
It seems a bit unfair as our main competitors are American companies and I have bought a few DVDs off them to check how they do it - no certification on the DVDs and no restrictions on who they can sell to.
Can anyone help with any advice as I want to start outselling those Americans with some good old British produce!
Thanks in advance . .

[Danny30]

Is there no-one that can help? Can someone at least let me know if there is anywhere on the internet where the exact laws / guidelines governing adult websites and DVDs in the UK can be found?

[FootPlay]

You will find that this has been discussed many times on this site. We are all probably a little bored with the subject. Your point of Ref is the lord god almighty who goes by the name BBFC. Phone them they are more than helpfull. But at the end of the day you can only sell R18 from a sex shop and not send them through the post, and any (broadly speaking) DVD sold in this land of ours is subject to certification (unless you can argue you are training!!) - tough isn't it.

[Danny30]

Yes but that doesnt tackle the issue of what happens if a company in, say America, produces, markets and distributes our DVDs for us. Surely this would be OK as it is not really any different to me selling the rights to distribute the DVDs to a third party company located in a different country?

If this topic has been discussed loads of times, how come no-one has either pointed me to the thread where it has been discussed or pointed me to some other on-line resource which I can use.

Saying contact the BBFC is just stupid - would you contact the Inland Revenue for tax advice?? The BBFC will just say I can't do it whereas in reality, as with anything, there is almost certainly a legal work around.

[FootPlay]

I give you advise and you come back calling it stupid. You know nothing - you are new to this site and should have a little more respect for some of us who have been doing this a long time. The BBFC are more than helpful - they know the rules and will give proper advice. I have used them many times on the phone covering areas from dvd sales to public performances of material in cinema etc (more better than the local authority advice). Do you really think that you are the first person to try and find a work around!!! Yes if it is a company registered abroad you are not subject to the BBFC but if you are a UK company using a distributor abroad then you will find out you are.

Help me out here fellow memebers.

[paul jones]

You contact the BBFC for the rules, just as you would contact the Inland Revenue for the rules.

Both organisations are quite happy to tell you what you need to know to stay legal:-) Neither will tell how how to be creative about it. (That's why we have lawyers and accountants).

One thing I'll tell you for free - under Uk law it doesn't really matter where a ltd company is technically based. IF the people who own/run it are based in the UK, then Uk law can be applied.

[androm17]

All above


plus in the US your have to be careful because different states have different laws concerning pornography.

[PondLife]

"Would you contact the Inland Revenue for tax advice?......"

Yes, I would. Why not? When I first set up my business I went to see them, asked what expenses I could claim, how capital allowances worked, etc.

They were extremely helpful.

Danny30, I think you are missing a trick, here. Why not ask the BBFC? They are the experts. People on this forum are very helpful but their views often conflict, so you might well receive advice which is simply not accurate.

[The Grand Wazoo]

Some companies on the web with a co.uk address are registered offshore to getaround the mail order law. Not too sure if I'm right but if the item is sent from outside the UK it is not necessarily illegal unless of course the material on it is banned by obscenity laws, otherwise what the BBFC deem acceptable the item is okay to send via the mail.

I maybe wrong and I'm sure there is probably some technical sub-heading, paragraph 2 or whatever that over-rules it!! Must admit I have never encountered any problems purchasing dvds via mailorder.

[andy at handiwork]

As far as I understand, if as a UK based producer you upload material from here to a foreign website/server, it is considered to be published here and you can be done for it if appropriate. I dont think taking material abroad on tape or DVD is considered the same way.