'Girls Gone Wild' fined $1.6 million
The "Girls Gone Wild" video empire agreed to pay $1.6 million and its founder was sentenced to community service Wednesday for filming drunken, underage girls in the raunchy videos. The guilty pleas by Mantra Films Inc. and its multimillionaire founder, Joe Francis, stem from the company's use of two 17-year-olds in its DVDs and videos, which feature young women baring their breasts in public. The videos at issue were filmed in Panama City Beach, Fla., during spring break in 2003. U.S. District Judge Richard Smoak ordered Francis to read aloud in court a victim impact statement from one of the women, who said she was emotionally tormented by her appearance on a "Girls Gone Wild" video and that the video damaged her relationship with her family. Smoak told Francis he added the community service because it did not appear a fine would be a meaningful punishment. The fine represents less than 3 percent of Mantra's profits since 2002 and only 12 percent of Mantra's 2005 profits, Smoak said.
So profits, where about 13 million in 2005 and about 53 million from 2002 through 2005. Every article refers to profits, but I have to imagine its probably gross revenues?
Further investigation reveals I would be wrong. The LA Times reports it is a 40 million dollar a year business. With that kind of profit maybe congress should consider a windfall profits tax? I'm going to start the $9.99 a DVD is price gouging campaign, but where shall we picket?
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