‘The recruitment tactics have become increasingly covert.’ Photograph: True Images/Alamy View image in fullscreen ‘The recruitment tactics have become increasingly covert.’ Photograph: True Images/Alamy Pornography Letters How OnlyFans content creators can protect themselves from unscrupulous agents Agencies that refuse to negotiate contract terms, or discourage legal review, are not acting in good faith, writes Catherine De Noire
As someone who has worked in the sex industry for 10 years, including running my own OnlyFans account, I receive agency approaches on a weekly basis ( The malignant rise of OnlyFans managers: ‘It’s exploiting. It’s grooming. It’s predatory’, 18 June ). The criminal behaviour you describe – violence, blackmail, intimidation – is rightly exposed. But I think the article missed an opportunity to give readers something equally valuable: the ability to spot these agencies before signing anything.
The recruitment tactics have become increasingly covert. Agencies no longer always approach creators directly. Instead, they manage accounts of existing creators and write to potential recruits pretending to be them. A woman with 200 followers suddenly receives a message from what appears to be a celebrity with 300,000 – telling her she’s beautiful, that she knows photographers who’d love to work with her, and asking if she’s considered OnlyFans. That “celebrity” is an agency employee. This is the first red flag most women never recognise as one.
The contracts themselves are full of warning signs that are worth naming explicitly: contracts presented in parts, with a “second section” revealed only after signing; disproportionate exit penalties; vague payment terms (“a flat fee of €2,000 per month, then a percentage” – after how long? Under what conditions?); and pressure to sign immediately, without consulting a lawyer or showing it to anyone else. Agencies that refuse to negotiate contract terms, or discourage legal review, are not acting in good faith.
Your readers would be better protected not just by knowing that exploitation exists, but by knowing what it looks like at the very beginning – before the contract is signed and before the control begins. Catherine De Noire Amsterdam, Netherlands
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