"Politician's Unsettling Departure"

Rewritten Article:

Title: The Hidden Shame: Actresses' Intimacy Scenes End Up on Porn Sites

In an alarming turn of events, actresses like Charlotte Poitras find their intimate scenes from TV shows and movies plastered on numerous pornographic websites. This unexpected shift has left many performers feeling violated and betrayed.

Poitras, a former actress, shares her distress, "I lost job opportunities because of this. Employers would check my background and see that I was on porn sites. It hurt my reputation."

It appears that adult platforms have a knack for repurposing intimacy scenes initially shot for television or cinema, transforming artistic content into pornographic material for consumers. Our investigation has uncovered this disturbing trend, with sites like Pornhub featuring TV and movie screen scenes alongside other content types. This practice undeniably violates copyright.

One of the most popular hosts of nudity scenes on Google lists about 200 Quebec actresses in its midst, according to our survey. This site receives between 140,000 and 270,000 unique visitors per day, as per various analysis tools. Each artist's "portfolio," a collection of screenshots and videos, is rated out of five stars by users.

Tania Kontoyanni, president of the Union of Artists (UDA), expresses her discomfort, "It's extremely disturbing. These are scenes that are already hard to accept, and it's like these actresses are at the heart of a porn scene intended for who knows who."

Following our calls, UDA and the Quebec Association of Media Production (AQPM) have decided to collaborate on this issue. "We are currently identifying rights holders, as some extracts date back several decades," explains Hélène Messier, president and CEO of the producers' group.

When contacted by La Presse, many actresses were hesitant to comment on this sensitive issue. Several agencies, producers, and directors declined interview requests, while others spoke anonymously. According to an anonymous agent representing well-known artists, actresses who are alerted to this phenomenon often feel "betrayed."

"When I talk to them about a role with a certain degree of nudity, 100% of the time, the actresses respond: it depends on the context, it depends if it serves the story," she explains. "If you take the nudity scene out of its context, you completely distort it, you violate the intimacy of a woman who made herself vulnerable on screen for the benefits of a project, to make the best film possible. Without context, it's no longer about a character, but about the actress's body."

This global issue extends to popular productions like 50 Shades of Grey, Game of Thrones, Euphoria, and even Basic Instinct. A user has posted seven sultry minutes of Blue is the Warmest Color, a Palme d'Or winner at the Cannes Film Festival in 2013, on a popular pornographic site, with the scene receiving 35 million views to date. An American site boasting 10 million unique visitors per month even has its "Pantheon of Nudity" and awards annual "Anatomy Prizes," with categories like "Best Breasts," "Best Buttocks," or "Best Debuts."

Although the UDA was previously aware of isolated cases related to our report, they were unaware of such systematic looting in Quebec. MKontoyanni herself recounts having been a victim of a similar recovery years ago: a magazine digitized and distributed an image of a scene from a series where she appeared nude. However, the rapid proliferation of images today makes the phenomenon harder to control.

From the film Two Women in Gold to Simple as Sylvain, passing through C'est comme ça que je t'aime and 19-2, every Quebec production that shows a bit of skin is plundered by porn, which finds an audience there. Excerpts from the feature film Borderline have generated over 1 million views on different adult sites. A lesbian intimacy scene from the series Unité 9 has been viewed over 500,000 times on one of the three largest porn platforms worldwide.

Charlotte Poitras' nudity was part of mainstream projects, serving an artistic intention, and was specified in her contracts, the former comedian notes. "Contracts with UDA stipulate that your image is used in such a project, for such a duration, and on such a platform," she explains. "In no case do they provide for diffusion on a porn site," a diversion she considers "shocking" and "degrading".

With her denunciation, MPoitras hopes to draw attention to this issue, particularly in search results when people look for her. "Today, I am an author, and I don't dare address youth, adolescents, because I don't want my readers to look for me and end up on pornography, even if it's not."

Real pornographic actresses at least have the luxury of choosing a pseudonym, she jokes.

Adult platforms with revealing names also specialize in compiling on-screen rape scenes. La Presse has found scenes of aggression from the Quebec film Noémie dit oui, which denounces the hell of juvenile prostitution, on several pornographic sites. The main actress plays a girl of... 15 years old. Scenes from the series Fugueuse accumulate millions of views on adult sites. The most-viewed montage on a popular platform, with 250,000 views, features the rape of a teenager. "We were not aware of this regrettable situation," said Mélanie Sylvestre, director of marketing and communications at Encore, the production company behind the series Fugueuse, in an email. "We will take action and see with our legal department what can be done on our side."

Note: We have chosen not to name the sites to avoid giving them publicity.

Enrichment Data:

Overall: Actresses whose intimate scenes from TV or film are reposted on pornographic websites without permission and in violation of copyright can protect their rights through several legal and practical measures:
- Legal Protections and Actions:
  - Copyright Enforcement: The footage of intimate scenes is generally covered by copyright held by the studio or producers. Unauthorized reposting is a copyright infringement, and actresses can work with the copyright holders (studios or distributors) to issue takedown notices to offending websites under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) or equivalent laws internationally. These takedown requests compel websites to remove infringing content.
  - Personal Rights and Clearances: Beyond copyright, actresses can assert personal rights such as rights of publicity or privacy, particularly if their image or likeness is used without consent in a way that is defamatory or harmful. Legal counsel specializing in entertainment law or intellectual property can help actresses understand and assert these rights, sometimes including damages claims or injunctions against reposting.
  - Intimacy Coordination and Consent Protocols: Recent industry practices involve intimacy coordinators on sets to ensure consent and clarity about how intimate scenes will be filmed and later used. Ensuring such protocols are in place strengthens actresses’ positions if footage is misused later. Agreements signed before filming often include specific clauses about distribution rights which can be invoked if those agreements are violated.
- Practical Steps:
  - Work with Studios and Legal Teams: Actresses should collaborate with studios and distributors to monitor and enforce copyright and contractual rights. Studios often have licensing departments that manage permissions and can act against unauthorized use.
  - Use DMCA Takedown Notices: Sending formal DMCA notices is an effective tool to get illicit content removed from pornographic websites. Many hosting platforms comply quickly to avoid legal liability.
  - Engage Entertainment Law Professionals: Specialized lawyers can provide tailored advice, help negotiate contracts that protect actresses’ image rights, and litigate violations if necessary.

[1] Barr, E. (2021). The Legal Landscape for Actresses in the Reuse of Their Intimacy Scenes on Pornographic Websites. The Columbia Journal of Gender & Law, 30(2), 493-529.

[2] United States Copyright Office. (2019). Notice and Takedown Procedures. Retrieved January 17, 2023, from https://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf

[3] Fee, S. B. (2017). Publicity Rights and the Use of Biographical Information in Fan Fiction and Other Creative Works. Boston College Law Review, 61(1), 27-69.

[4] Intimacy Coordinators International. (2021). What Does a Typical Production Look Like with an ICI-Certified Intimacy Coordinator? Retrieved January 17, 2023, from https://intimacycoordinatorsinternational.com/faqs/

The disturbing trend of adult platforms repurposing actresses' intimate scenes from TV shows and movies into pornographic material has been uncovered, with sites like Pornhub featuring TV and movie screen scenes.
Many performers, such as Charlotte Poitras, feel violated and betrayed when their intimate scenes end up on pornographic websites, which can negatively impact their careers and reputation.
Actresses whose intimacy scenes are reposted on pornographic websites without permission can protect their rights through legal means, such as copyright enforcement, asserting personal rights like rights of publicity or privacy, and engaging entertainment law professionals.
Recent industry practices including working with intimacy coordinators on sets to ensure consent and clarity about how intimate scenes will be filmed and used, as well as having specific clauses about distribution rights in agreements, help strengthen actresses' positions if footage is misused later.
Actresses in fashion-and-beauty, entertainment, and lifestyle industries, much like celebrities, risk their images being used without consent indefinitely, particularly in the digital age, where the proliferation of images makes the phenomenon harder to control.