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From: reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.books
Subject: Re: Kiddie Porn (Re: R. Draves)
Message-ID: <3368@ucla-cs.ARPA>
Date: Wed, 23-Jan-85 23:10:00 EST
Article-I.D.: ucla-cs.3368
Posted: Wed Jan 23 23:10:00 1985
Date-Received: Sun, 27-Jan-85 05:38:57 EST
References: <4608@cbscc.UUCP> <1231@ut-ngp.UUCP>
Reply-To: reiher@ucla-cs.UUCP (Peter Reiher)
Distribution: net
Organization: UCLA Computer Science Department
Lines: 27
Summary: 


>There is a law (federal, I believe), against parents
>reaping the monetary benefits of having a child actor.  That is,
>the child earns the money, and the parents may not spend it.  I
>do not know whether the same arrangement exists for child models.
>I suspect it does, for the same reason the motion picture law was
>enacted: abuse of children's earnings by parents (expert testimony,
>please?).

The law in question is known as the Jackie Coogan Law, as it arose from a
famous case in the twenties and thirties involving that actor.  He had
made fantastic amounts of money in silent movies as a child actor, but, as
all children do, he grew up and was no longer cute.  (In his old age, he
played Uncle Fester on "The Addams Family".  Compare that character to
some stills from "The Kid" if you want a shock.)  His parents, however,
had squandered all of his money.  As a result of the subsequent lawsuits, 
California enacted a law requiring most of the profits from a child actor's
labors to be placed in trust until he/she grows up.  Apparently, the law has
loopholes and only applies to income from motion pictures (perhaps not even
television).  It does not apply to models, to my knowledge.  I believe that
a few other states have laws modelled on this one.  This sort of area is
definitely not the place for federal law, being purely a local matter.
-- 

        			Peter Reiher
        			reiher@ucla-cs.arpa
        			{...ihnp4,ucbvax,sdcrdcf}!ucla-cs!reiher