Legislators Hear Adult Industry Pleas on AB5 at Burbank Hearing

BURBANK, Calif.—A group of California State Assembly members on Friday heard from several adult industry representatives who aired concerns about the controversial new law that requires workers who call themselves “independent contractors”—a classification that applies to the vast majority of porn performers, strippers and others sex industry workers—to be reclassified as “employees.” The meeting of the Assembly’s Select Committee on Jobs and Innovation in San Fernando Valley took place starting at 10 a.m. at American Federation of Musicians Local 47 union headquarters, located in a former Enterprise Rental Car facility near Burbank Airport. Though the complex bill creates a lengthy set of conditions under which independent contractors must now be treated as employees, the bottom line is that large numbers of freelance workers, in the adult industry and other fields, will likely find it more difficult to find work and keep it under the new law, for the simple reason that they will now become more expensive to their prospective employers. At the same time, those who choose to work on a freelance, or “independent contractor,” basis will lose much of the flexibility and ability to self-manage their schedules and careers, now that they are forced to become corporate employees. But according to adult industry performer Mary Moody, who attended the hearing and spoke to AVN.com, the law may have an even more dangerous unintended consequence—performer safety. Performers can gain some protection from the law by forming their own corporations, but by doing so, they also risk exposing their legal names and personal information—required to form a corporation or LLC in California, Moody said.  “Because my legal name becomes a public record, my safety is at risk,” she said, following the hearing, citing the possibility of “doxxing,” or public exposure of her personal information online. Justin Case, of the recently formed Adult Industry Laborers and Artists Association, told the legislators that while industry performers rely on online streaming services for significant segments of their income, at least two camming platforms have already banned California-based performers, to avoid having to meet the requirements of AB5.  Case asked the legislators to consider a blanket exemption from AB5 for for independent content creators who earn income through smaller adult platforms, as well as mainstream services such as Twitch and YouTube. Free Speech Coalition executive director Michelle LeBlanc also addressed the legislators, telling the committee not only that AB5 has imposed a “burden” on adult performers, but that the $1 million budget threshold for the state’s film production tax credit has excluded much of the adult industry, as well as performers and artists who create their own content for online streaming. LeBlanc also mentioned AB2389, a bill currently under consideration in the state legislature that would require adult performesr to obtain business licences, a process which includes fingerprinting and a criminal background check, saying that the proposed law would also serve as an unfair burden on adult industry performers.   The Select Committee meeting was chaired by 45th District Assembly rep Jesse Gabriel, a Democrat, with Laura Friedman (43rd district), Luz Rivas (39th) and Adrin Nazarian (46th) also attending. All of the other three committee members are also Democrats.