The 18 USC §2257 record-keeping regime: 1988-2026

Abstract. 18 USC §2257 — the US federal record-keeping requirement for producers of sexually-explicit visual content — is the foundational compliance regime for the US adult industry and a load-bearing reference point for analogous frameworks elsewhere. This entry surveys the 1988 origins of the statute (under the Child Protection and Obscenity Enforcement Act), the multiple amendments that have shaped its operational meaning, the 2010s constitutional litigation that narrowed enforcement scope, and the current 2026 environment where the regime sits alongside payment-processor compliance as the second of two structural compliance pillars.

By Rohan Mehta. 1,690 words · 8 min · 6 citations.