PORN FILM EL CARRETE POSES MORAL, LEGAL QUESTIONS

The low budget film El Carrete, which features a group of young people making a porn film, has caused controversy among cinema-goers who don't know whether it's fact or fiction, reports Ananova. The film begins by telling a fictional tale of a group of five friends who organise a party which, they hope, will turn into a drug-fuelled orgy. But after a few minutes the director walks on screen, tells the cast they've run out of money and that their only hope is to make a porn film. The movie has caused controversy among viewers because it is not clear whether, from this point onwards, the actors are acting or if they are having sex for real. Directors Oliver Leftaro and Pavel Saenz told Las Ultimas Noticias online: "Many people ask if this is a documentary, if one of the girls is really a prostitute, if we are telling what happened to us rather than telling a fiction. The truth is that we only handed out a few directions for the actors and they took it from there, so most of what you see is reality".

The IPKat, who deprecates all pornographic films, is nonetheless intrigued by the intellectual property issues which El Carrete and apparently spontaneous, unscripted performances raise. First, does the filming of a group of people having unscripted and undirected sex constitute a “dramatic work” for copyright purposes? Secondly, if the answer is yes, then who is the author? Thirdly, are there public policy grounds upon which the work, given its content, can be said to be incapable of enjoying copyright protection or upon which the courts will refuse to assist the copyright owner? Fourthly, are there any moral rights in immoral works?

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