OnlyFans just made a major policy change, and it can possibly have long-term devastating consequences for all content creators who use the platform. Without any sort of official notification, OnlyFans has apparently updated their model release policy, as they now require a current (non-expired) ID on the performer, despite the date the content was filmed.

Why is this a big deal?

Because that means if you do a content trade with someone today, and gather all of the proper paperwork, but the person's ID just so happens to expire tomorrow because it's their birthday, that content is no longer usable on your OnlyFans unless you can go back to the person and convince them to give you another copy of their ID.

But what if the person you did content with was your ex? Will your ex give you a new copy of their ID? LOL Good luck with that. What if the person has died? How can a dead person give you a new copy of their ID? They are dead. What if the person you did content with last year retires and is no longer in the industry? How will you get a new copy of their ID?

So now all of that content is 100% worthless to you, and you can't use it on OnlyFans, thanks to their new policy. This is not about what the law requires, it is what OnlyFans requires. In order to protect children from sexual exploitation, federal law imposes name- and age-verification, and recordkeeping, requirements on producers of visual depictions of actual human beings engaged in actual or simulated sexually explicit conduct. This means that producers of pornography, or depictions of any sexual activity using actual people, are required to verify that the performers are of legal age (18–years–old or older) by maintaining records of the performers’ names and ages. They also are required to disclose the location of these records. Under the law, all records are subject to inspection. This is what we collectively refer to in the industry as "2257," but in the end, what it is all about is making sure that if you do a scene with someone that person is over 18 at the time the content was procured and you can prove with a government-issued ID. When it comes to the law, they want to know who the person is, and that they were 18 years of age (or older) at the time the content was produced. It doesn't matter when you post the content or re-use it; what they care about is the exact date the content was produced. This is not a new law, it has been the law for many decades now. This has nothing to do with Visa or Mastercard and everything to do with the actual law. If you produce adult content in the United States, you MUST be in compliance with this law. It doesn't matter if you post the content to ManyVids, Clips4Sale, on OnlyFans, or Pornhub. In the end, what you do with the content doesn't matter to the feds. They only care that when you produced it, the person was over 18, and you can prove it (with a valid government id).

But here's the thing. The law is clear that you need a valid government-issued ID at the time content was produced. But more than that, they also want you to have a document that lists the performer's current name and the correct name ever used by the performer, including their maiden name, alias, nickname, stage, or professional name. This is the document we have a person fill out on set, commonly called "2257 compliance docs."

We, as an industry, have added in other safeguards and started to ask for more information to be extra careful, but they are not an actual requirement of the law. Case in point, we not only ask for a person's ID, but we often times ask for two different IDs as well as a picture of the person holding a copy of their ID. The law doesn't require this, but it's become sort of standard practice. And in some cases, that's a good thing. We want to make sure that nobody is in porn that shouldn't be. Nobody wants anyone under 18 in porn.

But now let's talk about what OnlyFans is doing.

They are making up new rules but not to further ensure the safety of the performers. They aren't doing anything to make sure that the person in question is in fact, over 18. They are just making up new rules for the sake of making up new rules. It could even open up the door for scammers who could further exploit legitimate performers. In fact, it's already happened. A male performer did a content trade with a female performer. His ID was expiring in a week, but at the time they did the scene, his ID was, in fact, valid. He had an Arizona state driver's license. They did the scene, but it didn't get edited for a few weeks. Now his ID has expired, but again at the time they did the scene, it was valid. She posted it to her OnlyFans, and it was rejected because OnlyFans support said his ID was not valid. Yet it was valid at the time the content was produced. This guy, as it turns out, did content with three different girls that weekend. The guy now has all three of those scenes and posted it to his OnlyFans as an exclusive. You can only see this on HIS OnlyFans, so he makes all the money for it. The girls who he did the scenes with are shit out of luck. The male performer offered to give the girls a new copy of his ID for $1,000 each.

Because of this OnlyFans policy, people like this male performer are able to try and exploit vulnerable females in our industry.

This policy isn't about the law. The law says the ID must be valid at the time the content was produced. So what about Visa and Mastercard? We all know that they've been coming down hard on platforms. Could this be because of them? I happen to know that answer. I was lucky enough to speak to multiple reps from Visa as did Alana Evans and her team, over at the APAG Union. They spoke to reps from both Visa and Mastercard. So what did they say? When asked to further clarify the rule on current or expired IDs, each Visa rep I spoke to specifically said that they aren't sure where OnlyFans came up with that because that is not something they ever asked them to change. As long as the record-keeping is in compliance with all US federal regulations, then that also meets their policies. Mastercard Reps expresses a similar sentiment to Alana Evans and the APAG union. If a person is over 18 at the time the content was produced, and the ID was valid at the time of production, that meets their requirements. So why did Onlyfans change their rules then? If it's not a federal law, nor a requirement of Visa and Mastercard, then what's the issue? If a person was 18 when they made the scene, they aren't going to magically de-age, 10 years later when the scene is published to OnlyFans. That makes no sense. This is something that happened to me personally. Porn star Candy Manson died in January of 2022. She filmed like 300 scenes during her career, including 4 for Bluebird Films, of which I own the rights to. Despite the fact that she was 18 at the time she filmed the scenes MORE THAN TEN YEARS AGO, and I have her IDs to prove it as well as all the other legally required paperwork, now that she's dead, I can't get a new ID for her. She filmed her scenes for me 10 years ago. She didn't magically 10 years later, become underage. She was over 18 at the time she did those scenes, and she'll still be over 18 ten years later. That's just how aging works. You don't become younger as the years pass. My scenes meet all federal statutes as well as being in compliance with all Vvisa and Mastercard published regulations. I just don't get it.

But just be aware that anyone you do content with, check the date their ID expires because that's how long you have to use the content on OnlyFans.

If their ID expires and they happen to still have an OnlyFans account, you can "tag" them. But if they ever close their OnlyFans account, or get their account suspended for some reason or another, your content is no longer able to be used on their platform. Please note I have had my attorney reach out to Onlyfans legal to see if we could get a response, but as of yet, we have not had an answer. I will keep you updated if new information about this becomes available.  

DISCLAIMER: I am attempting to help explain a complicated legal process regarding adult content production. I am not a lawyer. Anything I say should not be misconstrued as legal advice or a recommendation regarding any of the legal issues or problems described herein. I am giving you information based on my own personal experience in the adult industry. If you ever have a legal question, you should always consult an attorney.