Treasure Island Media Defends Rights To Freedom Of Sexuality & Expression; Studio to fight Cal/OSHA ruling

San Francisco, CA — January 21, 2014 — In the wake of a Cal/OSHA ruling, San Francisco based studio Treasure Island Media (TIM) has vowed to continue the fight for freedom of expression and sexuality for the entire industry.

The case started in 2009 when the non-profit organization, the AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) filed an official complaint with Cal/OSHA forcing them to act as a policing agent against the adult entertainment industry causing mandatory spending of US tax dollars. From the start, Treasure Island Media knew there was more at stake than a couple of fines: “We’re not just a company being attacked but a culture, one that believes the sex of HIV positive men should be open, celebrated, and embraced,” TIM owner and founder Paul Morris declared “as we enter a new era where the stigma of HIV is no longer looked down upon as a death sentence.”

A formal hearing was held four years after the citations were distributed in February and April of 2013. Administrative Law Judge, Mary Dryovage finally issued a decision earlier this month, after nine months of deliberation with two violations of the blood borne pathogen regulations but gutted the fines, dropping one from $9,000 to $6,300 and the other from $9,000 to $0. “Having the fines lowered by a total of nearly two-thirds is a very significant win for us,” said Karen Tynan, Treasure Island Media’s attorney.

Tynan went onto say, “We will be appealing the decision with a Petition for Reconsideration on the grounds that the decision was unsupported by the facts.” Among the issues regarding the sufficiency of evidence: Cal/OSHA’s star witness was a disgruntled former employee who had been terminated in 2010 and their medical expert was an osteopath (a branch of medical practice that emphasizes the treatment of medical disorders through the manipulation and massage of the bones, joints, and muscles.) who last treated communicable diseases almost twenty years ago.

At issue was The 1000 Load Fuck, directed by Morris. The 2009 video pushes the envelope, taking porn into taboo regions of the forbidden and depraved. In a bold and unprecedented experiment, one young man voluntarily takes a gallon of semen up his ass.

“We watched the video over and over and over. Then we watched it in slow motion, reverse, and paused it on almost every frame,” said TIM General Manager Matt Mason, who testified for almost a day and a half and withstood hours of cross examination by Cal/OSHA attorney Kathryn Woods. “The state prosecutors took special interest in the turkey baster and the liquid fun in that scene.”

According to Karen Tynan, “The regulations that Cal/OSHA is imposing on the adult industry were originally intended for hospitals, nursing homes, and funeral homes, and require gloves, goggles, and every imaginable impermeable material to be used during sex. It’s ludicrous, and we’re appealing.“