It’s strange that the Performer Formerly Known as Violet Blue should make her exit with a movie about impending birth, but that’s what happened last week as Adam & Eve, producers of the excellent Nina Hartley’s Guide to Great Sex During Pregnancy, was legally enjoined to remove the name “Violet Blue” from the boxcover.
In October of last year, the sex columnist Violet Blue (with whom I share masthead space at Fleshbot) sued the performer Violet Blue, winner of AVN’s Best New Starlet award in 2002 (as of today, “Violet Blue” is still listed as the winner) for, among other things, trademark violation. The writer believes the name of the performer diluted the brand the writer had built over the years.
The performer, born Ada Mae Johnson, lost the case and had to hand over the keys to the domain violetblue.org. The new mother (it was her second child that she was carrying in the Hartley video) has returned as Noname Jane, but has the onerous task of informing companies she worked for as Violet Blue that they need to remove her name from current movies.
So far, only the famously cautious Adam & Eve has complied, and only for Nina Hartley’s Guide to Great Sex During Pregnancy. Existing copies on store shelves or in the warehouses of e-tailers are not affected, but the boxcover has been redesigned for reorders.
I have talked with people on either side of this issue, some of whom consented to go on the record, but I am not going to start quoting people until I can present a more balanced story.
One reason for this is that both women show evidence of having professionally used the name “Violet Blue” for years and, while the performer can lay claim to being famous in her corner of the sex industry for longer, the writer’s footprint has expanded, and the writer has taken more steps to create a legal paper trail, such as trademarking the name in 2007.
Plus, it is clear that the writer really wants it.
In the porn world, the people I’ve talked with are not happy with the writer Blue, and in the mainstream world coverage has focused – as it will – on the story’s comic elements (this Wired story almost makes it out alive but then cannot help itself from calling the performer a “thespian.” The story’s comments clearly favor the performer).
It is unlikely the case will go any further. Noname Jane does not have the resources to fight Blue, who has won the first (and perhaps final) round, and it is only if enough adult companies are similarly hampered with injunctions that they would consider fighting back.
The picture above is among the first of the brand new Noname Jane, taken by Ed Fox. Nonamejane.com is under construction and, the performer says, “no one else has that name.”
Previously: Nina Hartley’s Great Sex During Pregnancy
See also: The writer; the performer at the Internet Adult Film Database
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