Celebrating 50 Years Of Legal Porn

In the internet age, porn has become quite ubiquitous across the developed world. It is a multi-billion dollar industry. It has become culturally accepted for the most part, with only the most hardcore conservatives oppose its existence in the Western world.  It’s difficult to imagine that, until 50 years ago, there was no legal porn industry anywhere in the world. Fortunately, 3 important things took place in 1969 that would change the world (and porn) forever.

Firstly, in April of 1969, the US Supreme Court ruled in the case of Stanley Vs. Georgia. That ruling established an implied right to privacy, and effectively decriminalized mere possession of obscene material across the US.  It did not legalize the creation of said materials nationwide, however community standards about what constitutes obscenity have become ever more lax over the years. Many places have chosen to allow the creation and distribution of legal pornography in the years following this landmark decision.  

The other two important changes took place half a world away, in Copenhagen.  As of July 1, 1969, the tiny nation of Denmark changed the world by officially lifting its ban on Pornography. The move was spurred on by the “free love” hippy movement that was gaining traction around the world. A few months later, on October 21st, they became host to the world’s first pornographic trade show!  

Sex 69, as the trade show was called, drew attendees from all over the world. There were 50,000 visitors in total. The attendees were 90% men - for a modern comparison, Pornhub’s audience is approximately 30% male, with female viewership increasing every year. A UK reporter covering the event described the women who did attend as, “strolling around as though they were at a church jumble sale.”  

The fair was a huge commercial success. At the time it has held, the export of adult material was already worth £3 million a year, a number which soon exploded.  In addition to creating an obvious boom for Denmark, other countries soon followed suit. 

Events from that Scandinavian Autumn became known internationally in part thanks to one particular attendee.  American filmmaker Alex de Renzy not only attended Sex 69, but he made a documentary about it called “Censorship in Denmark - A New Approach.”  It contained reports on fair trade, vox pop style interviews from people in Copenhagen, and scenes from hardcore erotic films available at Sex 69. The scenes themselves would have been illegal to screen in the US at the time, but “Censorship in Denmark” got around US decency laws because, as a documentary, it was seen as having “serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.” It became an instant hit!

The events of 1969 ushered in what is known as “The Golden Age of Pornography.  According to Forbes, the retail value of the US porn industry in 1975 was estimated at $5 million to $10 million, which would be the equivalent of $24 million to $48 million today. The Golden Age, so dubbed because even very low budget porn flicks could become huge box office success stories, continued through 1984. 

For a couple of decades, rapid technological advances made the ever-shifting porn industry difficult for many to navigate until 3 key changes occurred in 2007. Firstly, that was the year that porn sites started emulating Youtube, by providing a platform to stream amateur porn for free. So-called “tube” sites like Pornhub and XHamster took the industry by storm!  2007 was also the year the first iPhone was released, giving people a personal, private device from which to view these free sites. Lastly, Vivid Entertainment forever changed the type of porn people were searching for by publishing Kim Kardashian’s sex tape, which would be the most searched video on XHamster for years to come.  

Today, there are dozen of adult film festivals and industry fairs around the world. Berlin is just wrapped up it’s 14th annual Porn Film Festival, featuring over 100 films over the course of 6 days. There are at least 6 different trade shows and festivals coming up in November, including several in both Canada and France. Arguably, the biggest adult trade show is the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo, held January 22-25th in Las Vegas. The event caps off with an award show, often dubbed “The Oscars of Porn.”  All of these festivals owe their existence, at least in part, to the international success of that very first show in Denmark. 

Just like the original Sex 69 festival, these events are designed to support the booming porn industry and help it expand - an expand, it certainly has! The exact value of today’s international porn market is notoriously difficult to determine, due to a number of factors. However, even the most conservative estimates put it at about 6 billion dollars per year, and more extravagant claims believe it is just shy of $100 billion for online porn alone.  

The porn industry has gone from completely underground, to at least 6 billion dollars of taxable revenue in just 50 years. Few industries can claim that sort of growth. It’s impossible to predict what will become of porn in the next 50 years, but I think it’s safe to say it will continue to thrive. 

In the internet age, porn has become quite ubiquitous across the developed world. It is a multi-billion dollar industry. It has become culturally accepted for the most part, with only the most hardcore conservatives oppose its existence in the Western world.  It’s difficult to imagine that, until 50 years ago, there was no legal porn industry anywhere in the world. Fortunately, 3 important things took place in 1969 that would change the world (and porn) forever.

Firstly, in April of 1969, the US Supreme Court ruled in the case of Stanley Vs. Georgia. That ruling established an implied right to privacy, and effectively decriminalized mere possession of obscene material across the US.  It did not legalize the creation of said materials nationwide, however community standards about what constitutes obscenity have become ever more lax over the years. Many places have chosen to allow the creation and distribution of legal pornography in the years following this landmark decision.  

The other two important changes took place half a world away, in Copenhagen.  As of July 1, 1969, the tiny nation of Denmark changed the world by officially lifting its ban on Pornography. The move was spurred on by the “free love” hippy movement that was gaining traction around the world. A few months later, on October 21st, they became host to the world’s first pornographic trade show!  

Sex 69, as the trade show was called, drew attendees from all over the world. There were 50,000 visitors in total. The attendees were 90% men - for a modern comparison, Pornhub’s audience is approximately 30% male, with female viewership increasing every year. A UK reporter covering the event described the women who did attend as, “strolling around as though they were at a church jumble sale.”  

The fair was a huge commercial success. At the time it has held, the export of adult material was already worth £3 million a year, a number which soon exploded.  In addition to creating an obvious boom for Denmark, other countries soon followed suit. 

Events from that Scandinavian Autumn became known internationally in part thanks to one particular attendee.  American filmmaker Alex de Renzy not only attended Sex 69, but he made a documentary about it called “Censorship in Denmark - A New Approach.”  It contained reports on fair trade, vox pop style interviews from people in Copenhagen, and scenes from hardcore erotic films available at Sex 69. The scenes themselves would have been illegal to screen in the US at the time, but “Censorship in Denmark” got around US decency laws because, as a documentary, it was seen as having “serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.” It became an instant hit!

The events of 1969 ushered in what is known as “The Golden Age of Pornography.  According to Forbes, the retail value of the US porn industry in 1975 was estimated at $5 million to $10 million, which would be the equivalent of $24 million to $48 million today. The Golden Age, so dubbed because even very low budget porn flicks could become huge box office success stories, continued through 1984. 

For a couple of decades, rapid technological advances made the ever-shifting porn industry difficult for many to navigate until 3 key changes occurred in 2007. Firstly, that was the year that porn sites started emulating Youtube, by providing a platform to stream amateur porn for free. So-called “tube” sites like Pornhub and XHamster took the industry by storm!  2007 was also the year the first iPhone was released, giving people a personal, private device from which to view these free sites. Lastly, Vivid Entertainment forever changed the type of porn people were searching for by publishing Kim Kardashian’s sex tape, which would be the most searched video on XHamster for years to come.  

Today, there are dozen of adult film festivals and industry fairs around the world. Berlin is just wrapped up it’s 14th annual Porn Film Festival, featuring over 100 films over the course of 6 days. There are at least 6 different trade shows and festivals coming up in November, including several in both Canada and France. Arguably, the biggest adult trade show is the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo, held January 22-25th in Las Vegas. The event caps off with an award show, often dubbed “The Oscars of Porn.”  All of these festivals owe their existence, at least in part, to the international success of that very first show in Denmark. 

Just like the original Sex 69 festival, these events are designed to support the booming porn industry, and help it expand - and expand, it certainly has! The exact value of today’s international porn market is notoriously difficult to determine, due to a number of factors. However, even the most conservative estimates put it at about 6 billion dollars per year, and more extravagant claims believe it is just shy of $100 billion for online porn alone.  

The porn industry has gone from completely underground, to at least 6 billion dollars of taxable revenue in just 50 years. Few industries can claim that sort of growth. It’s impossible to predict what will become of porn in the next 50 years, but I think it’s safe to say it will continue to thrive.