This question is not so much for the big content producers and membership sites on this forum who of course retain legal counsel as part of their cost of doing business. No, this question is for the bloggers, affiliates and smaller membership site owners here: Have you or do you use an adult entertainment attorney, maybe as a one time thing to get a ToS or Privacy Statement done, or perhaps on a regular basis?
As a smaller affiliate blogger I have not, but I decided to look into this recently and was surprised at the cost. Most of the well known adult ent. lawyers charge a minimum $3,500 retainer. That’s just not in my budget, but I really don’t think I’m at risk. If I ever got really big I would probably look into it.
Bad idea on my part or is this the norm for most of you medium and smaller size site owners?
As a small business owner i have an insurance for legal costs. I pay a monthly fee, if i would need the assistance of a lawyer or legal advisor they are at my disposal. Up to now i only needed legal advice once.
I think Spunked has the right advice! If your a self employed blogger/affiliate then it really is best just to take out some insurance. I blog over in the UK and my insurance covers me up to something stupid like £10,000,000 GBP (about $16,000,000) including free legal advice bundled in for £12 a month (around $20)
Covers me for just about everything I need! - Also I got a free pen!
[QUOTE=Daniel-FrenchTwinks;156066]I think Spunked has the right advice! If your a self employed blogger/affiliate then it really is best just to take out some insurance. I blog over in the UK and my insurance covers me up to something stupid like £10,000,000 GBP (about $16,000,000) including free legal advice bundled in for £12 a month (around $20)
Covers me for just about everything I need! - Also I got a free pen![/QUOTE]
Sounds like a very good idea. But are you sure those insurances are valid for anything adult related? From what I read briefly those type of insurances come with a lot of restrictions. Which ones have you used?
we paid an adult industry attorney by the hour - it was pricy, but i consider it was very worth it. i’d consider it to be worth $3500 to get some answers and recommendations, btw.
The legal insurance idea looks interesting. Anyone recommend someone in the US? It looks like LegalZoom offers a service for $29.95 a month but its just for advice, not protection against a lawsuit.
LegalZoom or pre-paid legal would be worse than throwing money in the toilet. For that amount of money, whatever you did need they would give you paralegal-quality work at best. Conversely, you don’t need a lawyer who charges a $3500 retainer to so something like review your website but you need someone who is truly familiar with the online adult industry.
I don’t take on legal work anymore but there are lawyers out there that are both affordable and knowledgeable. Lawyers are not unlike physicians in that you can go to a specialist or a general practitioner and to expect to pay more for the specialist. Depending on what you need done I have a very short list of lawyers I trust and respect their work enough to send referrals. Send me an email to cbelville at azbar dot org with what you are looking for and I would be glad to make an introduction to a lawyer that fits your needs. I do not receive any compensation or finder’s fee for referrals as those fees are explicitly prohibited under Arizona ethics rules, and even though I am not actively practicing I maintain active law licenses so I am subject to those rules.
[QUOTE=ChadKnowsLaw;156241]LegalZoom or pre-paid legal would be worse than throwing money in the toilet. For that amount of money, whatever you did need they would give you paralegal-quality work at best. Conversely, you don’t need a lawyer who charges a $3500 retainer to so something like review your website but you need someone who is truly familiar with the online adult industry.
I don’t take on legal work anymore but there are lawyers out there that are both affordable and knowledgeable. Lawyers are not unlike physicians in that you can go to a specialist or a general practitioner and to expect to pay more for the specialist. Depending on what you need done I have a very short list of lawyers I trust and respect their work enough to send referrals. Send me an email to cbelville at azbar dot org with what you are looking for and I would be glad to make an introduction to a lawyer that fits your needs. I do not receive any compensation or finder’s fee for referrals as those fees are explicitly prohibited under Arizona ethics rules, and even though I am not actively practicing I maintain active law licenses so I am subject to those rules.[/QUOTE]
That’s my feeling, it sounds too good to be true. I’m sure there is a lot of extra clauses for what’s covered or not.