Okay, maybe I’m hyperaware of mandatory arbitration clauses because MoJo has consumer-advocate rock-star Stephanie Mencimer on staff and currently on our front page. But I couldn’t help but exult a little over this sentence at the bottom of a Larry Flynt Publishing freelance contract (yes, I’ve done a little journalism for them. Smart, investigative vagina journalism):
“Any dispute or claim arising out of the Letter Agreement shall be determined only by the courts in California, and therefore, you hereby agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the courts of California.”
Court! How quaint! Seriously, mandatory arbitration clauses are now so standard that it’s nearly impossible to buy a car, get a job, or even eat a cheeseburger without giving up your ability to sue companies that screw (!) you. But not at Hustler. Whatever my thoughts on some of Larry Flynt’s politics, at least the pornographer puts his money where his litigious mouth is and lets contributors keep their right to take his whole sexy empire to court. Which is going to come in really handy when his art department photoshops some giant naked boobs onto my contributor’s photo.
