Traci Lords

[AnthonyT]

Aside from her TRACI I LOVE YOU title, all of her other stuff previously released on VHS is rare, despite the number of titles she did. I see some eBayers selling some of it, a lot are bootlegged versions, others are authentic. The authentic stuff seems to sell quite high. Are these illegal to sell even though they have been circulated into the general public?

[Fred Adelman]

Legally, yes it is, since she was underage when she made them and they could be consider child porn. That's stretching the legal system's definition of child porn, though, so I doubt the federal government would go after sellers of these bootlegs unless they had nothing better to do. Individual state and local governments are another story though. All someone has to do is to file a complaint that someone is selling child porn in their area and, BAM!, someone will get arrested. It's a slippery slope.

[Jeff K]

I'd be very careful buying an under-aged Lords tape on Ebay. Make sure the seller is trustworthy.

[Anthony A.]

I am sure they would be considered illegal but I doubt the feds would go after someone just for owning her videos.

While she was active in the industry she was it's #1 female star. She starred in over 100 films and I wouldn't even venture to guess the actual number of tapes that were sold. Her titles were rented (and duped) for years before anyone learned she was underage. She did countless photo shoots and was featured hundreds of times in adult magazines. In some countries her movies are still legal and currently available on DVD. Throw in the ability to download pics/videos and the fact that people have had 20 years to dup/distribute her material and I can't think of a more losing battle.

Also throw in the fact that people who are in to kiddie porn would not be interested in her movies or photos (they would more likely get off on an adult who is dressed and acting like a child than someone who is underage but appears to be in their mid 20's), I don't believe they would waste their time tracking down her material and prosecuting the owner/seller.

Anthony

[R.T. Gelling]

The Feds definitely busted dealers who tried to move Traci tapes after her age was revealed. That was covered in The Other Hollywood. I wouldn't chance purchasing anything from someone if I lived in the US.

[Tom D]

I worked at a video store in Los Angeles when all of this orignally went down. Those tapes were yanked from the shelves pronto.

[scott favareille]

There were some who sold the pulled tapes under the table.

[Howard Farmer]

I wouldn't risk my freedom.
No way. Not here in the land of the "free".

[Robert F]

There was Traci Lords FAQ (can't search for it now I'm at work) that dealt with this topic. It told you what was currently available in other countries (at the time) and at least one or two places you could purchase in the US. The place in the US wasn't mail order though.

[Thomas Wood]

There was somebody in Quebec selling her movies and even advertised in ROLLING STONE. He even had a website. His reasoning was that the age of consent in Quebec was 14 and therefore the tapes were legal. Let's just say that I wouldn't bet on that.

Curiously enough, in the early 90's you could rent some of her films in videostores in Toronto. BEVERLY HILLS COPULATORS, SEX FIFTH AVENUE and DIRTY PICTURES were some of the titles I remember. This was just after the then censor board loosen their restrictions on adult movies and I suspect the stores were buying the titles in batches and some of her titles were there. They quickly disappeared after a few months.

[JJ Smith]

Her last movie has become somewhat of a rarity too.

Caballero was forced to stop selling it in 1998 after a lawsuit filed by Lords herself. It's been awhile since I read up on the whole affair but I think the gist was that Traci had a contract with Caballero that gave them exclusive rights to duplicate and sell the film for 10 years, after which the rights reverted back to her. 10 years came and went and they were still turning out copies so she took them to court. The masters were returned to her and I read somewhere that she destroyed them.

A video store I used to frequent had the tape. It was a bizarre movie. Not her greatest work, but still decent, and considering it's the only title you can legally own in the US, I'm not complaining.

Just wanted to add that there is a guy based in Canada selling her movies on Usenet. I have not dealt with him, and would be wary of doing so. There is also a binary group consisting of diehard fans who upload her underage films with regularity. However, most of the files are password protected and you have to upload your own stuff before they will give you a password.

[Robin Bougie]

Despite the tapes being technically illegal, I don't think I've ever heard of anyone being taken down on possession of Lords-porn charges since the Traci shitstorm happened back in the day.

I'm not saying it's a good idea though. We do, after all, live in a society where people are arrested for owning illustrated depictions of minors in sexual situations. That's drawings. Lines on paper. Fiction. No victim. Arresting someone for drawing or owning drawings is almost like arresting someone for Orwellian thought-crime.

Here is the current case on the books of this nature. The guy faces up to 20 years in prison for possession of comic books:
http://www.animenewsnetwork.com/news...-obscene-manga

[Tim Mayer]

I have two words for you:
"Rick Sullivan".

[Robin Bougie]

I had no idea that the publisher of GORE GAZZETTE had any kind of run in with the law about Traci content, so thanks for prompting me to google that. I found a post from our own Fred Adelman talking about the incident, and quoting Mike Decker from J4HI back in 2006:

"RE: Rick Sullivan. I got a job as manager of the Meadtown Theater when I was about 21 or 22. I was surprised to find out that the co-owner (and my new boss) was Rick Sullivan of Gore Gazette fame! We eventually became good friends and I continued to be close to him (and his wife & son). They lived in Nutley (and are still there). About 3-4 years ago we had a bit of a falling out and we have lost all contact. Unfortunate, but as you know these things happen. To answer your question more specifically: Rick was running the GG, mc-ing at the Chiller convention and still selling bootleg videos back in the early 90's. In his old catalog he also sold underage Traci Lords titles. Well, one early morning he got a knock on his door and a bunch of USPS investigators and Nutley police proceeded to go through his house and belongings. They took his computer, entire video collection, and took him out the door in handcuffs! Even though it cost Rick 20k in lawyer fees, probation and community service he luckily didn't go to jail. He got all his stuff back too. I think the judge and maybe even the prosecutor realized they had wasted a lot of time and money on someone who could barely be described as a "child pornographer" - but rather just a wise-ass bootlegger. These feds actually thought that Rick had kids trapped in his basement to make porn films with! Needless to say even though he still loves movies he is "just" a fan and no longer in the public. His real business is a school bus company (the short ones, really!) and any bad publicity would be a bit of a business killer. One funny note is that he never got in trouble or had to pay any fines regarding the other hundreds of titles that he bootlegged! And if he sold those Lords videos through UPS (rather than the USPS) he would have never been arrested! One last funny story: as part of the various community service duties he had to do one was selling raffle / fundraiser tickets to business' in the Nutley area. The day he sold tickets he was paired up with a volunteer and they walked around to the stores as a team. The volunteer? A 16-year old girl! What a great legal system we have."

[Jimmy Simard]

Originally Posted by Thomas Wood

There was somebody in Quebec selling her movies and even advertised in ROLLING STONE. He even had a website. His reasoning was that the age of consent in Quebec was 14 and therefore the tapes were legal. Let's just say that I wouldn't bet on that.

Yes her tape are legal here (the old vhs one), but the reason state by this website is complete bull. The only reason why they are legal in the Province of Quebec is because they were approved by the Regie of Cinema when the movies were released (they were just normal adult movie before the age thing) and when a movie is approve it can't be change after. But her movie are as illegal than in the US here too, so you can't release it on a new media.

I really hope that no one here think that my province is a kiddie porn market, the actresses/actors must have 18 years old like everywhere in the world.