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Pornography, the “other Hollywood”
Not too far from the hills of Hollywood – known to be home to a wide array of film companies and talents, San Fernando Valley is the other audiovisual cluster in California (Ortiz, 2018). This “other Hollywood” shares many aspects with its better-known counterpart, including a golden age of big studios and production companies, surrounded a myriad of creators, craft and art makers, amateurs, and, nowadays, newcomers coming from the more general media and IT industry.
The idealised way of making revenues in the film and audiovisual industries is by exploiting copyright, for example by having a film open in theatres. Accordingly, the presence and success of pornographic films in theatres symbolise the Golden Age of the industry as a mainstream, or at least legal form of entertainment (Paasonen, 2010). The profitability of pornography has become a myth that finds its roots in the historical (box-office) success of Deep Throat (1972):
The commercial success of Deep Throat in VHS tape in 1975 is emblematic (Lane, 2001). This film, made on a $22,000 budget, is often cited as the most profitable film in the history of film as it generated 100 million dollars of revenues.
At the same time, porn appears big, uncontrollable, and pervasive and faces obstacles in the mainstream world. For instance, online pornographic companies are dependent on intermediaries (e.g. distribution platforms, payment processors, internet service providers) to market their products (videos, camming, books, sex-toys, mobile applications, games, etc..), but many of the mainstream application platforms and social media services do not accept adult companies.
Metz (2015) tells the story of Chris O’Connell, head of Mikandi, a start-up specialised in pornographic software. His case illustrates how costs of entry are higher for firms in the adult industry due to this market and legal ostracism:
“As he built Mikandi amidst this new world order, O’Connell didn’t pay $15 million for video software. He and his team built it themselves. That’s pretty much the way it works in the porn business (…) For adult companies, it’s chaos. It’s fragmented. It’s broken. It’s blocked. Adams says “You have to build your own newsletter service. You have to build your own billing system. All the game tools for distribution and ads – none of that is available to adult companies. All the awesome stuff that everyone expects you to have is blocked.””
(Metz, 2015)
This phenomenon, quite common in the digital media and cultural industries, and known as “gatekeeping”, is characterised by a setting where intermediaries have a pivotal position of power in a chain of value, giving them a decisive role in the entire chain. As a result, it is difficult for these companies to develop their technology and new ideas as they cannot fund their R&D in the traditional banking system, not to mention test their innovations on the market. Consequently, adult companies often have to turn to alternative banking and less advanced services or more expensive services. This situation might also explain why the adult industry needs to keep up with new media technologies (for instance, virtual reality) and diverse online services (e.g. cryptocurrencies) and have the reputation of being a pioneer in innovation.
Many papers start from the assumption that the adult industry played a key role in technological standard wars. Delacour and Liarte (2014) show that this argument deserves nuancing. The adult industry was indeed an early adopter, and it has ostensibly cultivated an image of pioneer when it comes to choosing media standards, fuelling a self-fulfilling prophecy – that of other industries following in the footsteps of the porn industry to coordinate on media tech standards. However, in the field of technological development, it is clear today that porn is left out of the race: various technology holders act as gatekeepers by banning explicit adult material from their services. Companies offering payment systems, web hosting, application platforms, and social networking tax, conceal or exclude adult content. The early adoption of technologies is accordingly explained by the fact that porn industry players are forced to used emerging, innovative solutions (which sometimes need early adopters to develop).
Deep Throat (1972) is known to be one of the biggest cinematographic successes of all time (including non-pornographic films) but it is an exception in the history of pornography where pornographic content could compete with non-adult works; business models have changed since the 1970s. It is not such an easy world for online adult firms to survive in, however, a few differentiate themselves using different strategies and putting forward their own competitive advantages. What could be a realistic picture of the pornographic world today? How do pornographers earn money nowadays? The leading firms seem to earn hundreds of million dollars (Darling, 2014) while other companies survive by devoting themselves to niche content.
Schematically, three types of actors are usually identified in the online pornographic industry (Table 1): historic big players, entrepreneurs and new dominant players.
A taxonomy of pornographic companies
Historic players
The history of Playboy founder Hugh Hefner epitomises entrepreneurship in pornography, with his cunning exploitation of intellectual property and recent copying technologies. He bought reproduction rights to a picture of Marilyn Monroe for $US 500 and found a way to make this glamour icon even more desirable by printing 70,000 colour copies of it on the centrefold of his magazine’s first issue, after raising an initial budget of $10,000 from his family and friends. Hefner sold 50,000 issues in a month for 50 cents each, earning $25,000, which allowed him to cover his costs, thus heralding the beginning of an industry (Lane, 2000). Frederick Lane depicts Hefner as a Schumpeterian entrepreneur, an “innovator” (Lane, 2000, p. xvi): in a nutshell, the publishing veteran saw an opportunity for a new product and worked for it to be marketed. Accordingly, here the porn entrepreneur15 is defined as an individual who creates a company or an organisation (Gartner, 1990) and plays a key role in the emergence of new adult entertainment material.
Yesterday’s leaders (who I also call “historic” players) were able to remain household names in the adult industry. These companies, like Hustler, Playboy, in the United States, or Dorcel in France, founded on traditional content and distribution channels (long feature films, quasi cinematographic production values), rely on their brand name to keep their market share. The historical companies can count on their capital (i.e. resources accumulated over their leadership period) to branch out into side markets: dating, news, lifestyle, sex-toys and events. As far as the commercialisation of their video contents is concerned, their strategy is to develop curated content that meets their customers’ expectations.
Niche entrepreneurs
The category of “niche entrepreneurs” includes smaller entities, often a self-employed person or an unpaid volunteer, who provide home-made or highly curated content. These entrepreneurs can count on a very low cost of access to the field. In the online era, the minimal requirement to provide content either in the form of niche content collections or interactive live webcam shows is an Internet connection (plus a camera for performers). Their competitive advantage lies in their ability to harness a consumer base (either free users or paying customers), sometimes to form a community that will be tied to the service as the users provide feedback on the quality of the content.
Table 1 shows the difference between niche entrepreneurs in pornography as compared to other companies and organisations producing adult content. They usually target a niche market and try to offer a personalised product. They produce exclusive content that is often accessible in exchange for a tip or donation, or billed like any other good or service. Customers especially count on these entrepreneurs for carefully curated adult entertainment. They value the customisation of the product, often enabled by interactivity in the service (the pornographer may personally thank the customer, for instance). To make a profit, the entreporneur can count on the low cost of production and on a loyal community that often helps improve the product by providing voluntary feedback. Online niche entrepreneurs can be found on content aggregators, blogs and webcam platforms (Mowlabocus, 2015).
The minimum required material to film a video generally consists in a camera, lighting equipment, a film set, a computer and editing software. The film can be very basic (i.e. with low production values) to give it a do-it-yourself (DIY) feeling, which is a popular type of pornographic video (also called the “amateur” style). Viewers of DIY porn nevertheless need picture quality to be high enough to be able to see the sexual performance properly. Producing a pornographic video, then, has a cost which might be smaller than a non-pornographic film, but in some cases even that small cost is not recouped by the professionals of the sector who struggle to make a living out of their work. On top of that, there is a moral cost – a sometimes strong social stigma – which is often tougher for women, who may face exclusion and find themselves unable to find a job outside pornography and sex labour. Trachman (2013) mentions the constant negotiation for salaries and intense wage competition, which illustrates the fact that pornography may not be as profitable as is sometimes assumed. Additionally, porn professionals (who usually work in the sector for a short period) can also be compensated in non-pecuniary ways.
Table of contents :
CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION
1.1. DIGITISATION AND THE DISTRIBUTION OF CREATIVE CONTENTS
1.2. CULTURAL PRODUCTION REGIME IN THE DIGITAL ERA
1.3. OUTLINE OF THE THESIS
PART I. PORNOGRAPHY AS A CREATIVE INDUSTRY
CHAPTER 2. THE PORNOGRAPHIC INDUSTRY
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 2
2.1. DEFINING THE PORNOGRAPHIC INDUSTRY AS A RESEARCH SUBJECT
2.1.1. A HISTORY OF THE PORNOGRAPHIC INDUSTRY
2.1.2. INSTITUTIONAL DEFINITION
2.1.3. PARADIGM SHIFT: CONTEXTUALISATION IN PORNOGRAPHY RESEARCH
2.1.4. “GOOD” PORNOGRAPHY VS “BAD” PORNOGRAPHY
2.1.5. A NECESSARY DISTANCE AND AN INTERDISCIPLINARY APPROACH
2.2. THE ECONOMICS OF THE ADULT FILM INDUSTRY
2.2.1. PORNOGRAPHY, THE “OTHER HOLLYWOOD”
2.2.1.1. A TAXONOMY OF PORNOGRAPHIC COMPANIES
2.2.1.1.1. Historic players
2.2.1.1.2. Niche entrepreneurs
2.2.1.1.3. New major players
2.2.1.2. MAINSTREAM, ALTERNATIVE AND INDIE
2.2.2. DEMAND FOR PORNOGRAPHIES
2.2.2.1. Consumers of pornography in the literature
2.2.2.2. Elements of value of pornographic consumption
2.2.3. NETPORN: PARTICIPATION, INTERACTION AND ACCESS
2.2.3.1. Participation: porn 2.0. and user-generated content
2.2.3.2. Interactivity: using user data to develop new online products and services
2.2.3.3. Internet access to porn: the avalanche of fantasies
2.2.3.4. From amateurism to entrepreneurship
2.3. ONLINE PORNOGRAPHY, A WEAK IP REGIME
2.3.1. CHARACTERISING A WEAK IP ENFORCEMENT REGIME
2.3.2. LOW APPROPRIABILITY IN THE ONLINE ADULT ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY
2.3.3 THE SWITCH TOWARDS ALTERNATIVE BUSINESS MODELS
2.4. CONCLUSION TO CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3. PORNOGRAPHIC SUB-CULTURES, COMMUNITIES AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 3
3.1. COMMUNITIES AND PORN SUB-CULTURES
3.1.1. ALTERNATIVE PORNOGRAPHIES
3.1.1.1. Feminist porn
3.1.1.2. Alt-porn
3.1.1.3. LGBT+ and Queer pornography
3.1.1.4. BDSM pornography
3.2.1.5. Post pornography
3.1.1.6. Sex-positive pornography
3.1.2. DEFINING COMMUNITIES
3.1.3. COMMUNITIES AND COLLECTIVE CREATIVITY
3.1.3.1. Knowledge building
3.1.3.2. Community places and creative spaces
3.2. PORN ENTREPRENEURSHIP
3.2.1. DEFINING ENTREPRENEURSHIP
3.2.2. CAN A PORNOGRAPHER BE AN ENTREPRENEUR?
3.2.3.1 The illegitimacy of pornography as a professional occupation
3.2.3.2. The alt-entreporneur: a creator with a mission
3.3.3. A COMMUNITY COORDINATOR AND AMBASSADOR
3.4. CONCLUSION TO CHAPTER 3
PART II. THE ROLE OF COMMUNITIES AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN THE APPROPRIATION OF DIGITAL CONTENT: THE CASE OF SEX POSITIVE PORNOGRAPHY
CHAPTER 4. RESEARCH DESIGN AND DATA
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 4
4.1. EVIDENCE BUILDING FROM CASE STUDIES
4.1.1. SAMPLING OF CASES
4.1.2. EXPLORATORY PHASE
4.1.3. FOCUS ON COMMUNITIES IN SEX-POSITIVE PORNOGRAPHY
4.2. FIELDWORK AND OBSERVATION: LA FÊTE DU SLIP FESTIVAL
4.3. QUESTIONNAIRES AND INTERVIEWS
4.4. SECONDARY SOURCES
4.5. INTERPRETING INTERVIEWS
4.6. CONCLUSION TO CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5. RESULTS. INFORMAL APPROPRIATION IN WEAK INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY REGIMES: THE CASE OF SEX POSITIVE PORNOGRAPHY
SUMMARY OF CHAPTER 5
5.1. COMMUNITIES IN THE PRODUCTION OF CONTENT IN SEX-POSITIVE PORNOGRAPHY
5.1.1. INCENTIVES FOR MAKING PORNOGRAPHIC CONTENT
5.1.2. PRODUCTION AND APPROPRIATION IN SEX-POSITIVE PORNOGRAPHY
5.1.2.1. Producing content
5.1.2.2. Validating content
5.1.2.3. Sharing content
5.1.2.4. Monetising content
5.1.3. THE ROLE OF THE SEX-POSITIVE COMMUNITY IN BUILDING KNOWLEDGE
5.1.3.1. The role of the community in building visibility
5.1.3.2. A space for social activities to support the community
5.1.3.3. A space of co-creation and innovation
5.2. ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN SEX-POSITIVE PORNOGRAPHY
5.2.1. A DEFINITION OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP IN SEX-POSITIVE PORNOGRAPHY
5.2.1.1. A SEX-POSITIVE EXPERT
5.2.1.2 BUSINESS MODELS: ORIGINALITY AND AUTHENTICITY AS THE CORNERSTONES OF BRANDING FOR NEW PORNOGRAPHIES
5.2.2. LEGITIMATION OF ALT PORNOGRAPHY AS A CREATIVE ACTIVITY AND A BUSINESS
5.2.2.1. WORK ETHICS
5.2.2.1.1. Self-exploitation and resilience
5.2.2.1.2. “Learning in public”
5.2.2.1.3. Legitimisation of the professional occupation
5.2.2.2. ENTREPORNEURS AND INFORMAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY BASED BUSINESS MODELS
5.2.2.2.1. Copyright entrepreneurs vs. small business owners
5.2.2.2.2. Differentiation without trademark: ethical branding and authorship
5.2.3. APPROPRIATION IN SEX-POSITIVE ENTREPORNEURSHIP
5.2.3.1 IDENTITY, OWNERSHIP AND ACHIEVEMENT
5.2.3.2. COMMUNITIES AS A RESOURCE FOR THE ENTREPORNEUR
5.2.3.3. ENTREPRENEURIAL ACTIVITY AS A PRECURSOR OF ROUTINES FOR AN EMERGENT ORGANISATION
5.3. CONCLUSION TO CHAPTER 5: COMMUNITIES AND ENTREPRENEURS IN ALT PORNOGRAPHY
CHAPTER 6. CONCLUSION TO THE THESIS
CHAPTER 7. ABOUT THE NOTION OF GRATUITÉ – L’ÉVIDENCE DE LA GRATUITÉ DE LA PORNOGRAPHIE EN LIGNE
7.1. ILLÉGITIMITÉ DE LA PORNOGRAPHIE COMME GENRE CINÉMATOGRAPHIQUE 173
7.2. LE COÛT DE LA PORNOGRAPHIE
7.3. FAUX AMATEURISME
7.4. LA POST-PORNOGRAPHIE: LA STRUCTURATION D’UNE PRODUCTION DE NICHE
7.5. ÉCHANGES SYMBOLIQUES DANS LA POST-PORNOGRAPHIE
7.6. PROFESSIONNALISATION ET MONÉTISATION DE LA NICHE
7.7. CONCLUSION DU CHAPITRE 7
CHAPTER 8. FRENCH SUMMARY – RÉSUMÉ DE LA THÈSE
