I found this article on avn.com and cant belive Dion would lie and fuck over his directors this way .Ownership is ownership .Im sure Lex and the other directors would have never entered into these deals with Dion if they knew they really didnt own anything at all .Slimmy shit Dion and really fucked up if you ask me.

Red Light District and Lexington Steele Split Ways
By: Scott Ross
10-08-2003


CHATSWORTH, Calif. - Red Light District and Lexington Steele have mutually agreed to go their separate ways, though the terms of the separation have yet to be agreed upon. Steele has already moved his belongings out of the Red Light District offices. Steele intends to begin distributing his own titles through his own company, Mercenary Pictures, as early as January.

“It’s just one of those things that sometimes doesn’t work out between people, the same that happens with marriages. We had our creative differences and now we both feel its time to move on,” Red Light District owner Giarrusso told AVN.com. “Looking forward, I hope Lex does well for himself with whatever he does.”

For his part the three-time AVN Male Performer of the Year claims no animosity towards Red Light. “They’ve done really well over there and put out some great product—it’s just not the deal that I thought I was getting into for Mercenary Pictures. It’s not the deal I would have gotten into for Mercenary,” he said.

Giarrusso says that Steele’s titles that were distributed by Red Light Pictures will still be sold by Red Light, though Steele disputes that. Black Reign, Top Gun, Lex Steele XXX 1 and 2, Superwhores and one more title to be released later this month, Lex on Blondes, are the titles in question.

Giarrusso claims that those titles will be held in perpetuity, even after Steele has paid back the money fronted him for production costs. “I can’t have holes in my catalog. I just can’t do that. That’s not the way I operate,” he said. “If people call and ask for those titles what am I supposed to do?”

The standard Red Light District deal, usually involving no written contract, involves Giarrusso loaning talent money to start their own production company, interest free. One of the hallmarks of the Red Light District deal is that the directors own their own titles. The confusion seems to stem from the definition of the word “own.”

What Giarrusso means by the word “ownership” is that the directors have a significant percentage of all revenue generated by that product, something commonly referred to as royalties. Technically speaking, royalties do imply a percentage of ownership, a status that does not necessarily grant any control of a product.

Not that an interest free loan of hundreds of thousands of dollars to start-up your own company is something to sneeze at – and not that earning a percentage of revenue is bad compared to more traditional deals that leave directors cutting corners to pocket the difference between their budget and actual productions costs.

However, as Steele is the first director to leave the Red Light District fold, Giarrusso’s definition of the word “ownership” has never been called into question.

Steele claims that his understanding of the word “ownership” meant that the product was his and his alone and is not sure about the status of his catalog that was released under the Red Light District.

Steele and Giarrusso have yet to have a sit down to wrap up loose ends, and both parties have expressed an interest in keeping the matter out of court.

Steele dismissed the rumors that he would be signing with West Coast Productions, though he did express admiration for West Coast owner James Alexander as role model for black entrepreneurs in the adult industry. “I respect him because he’s done very well in a business in which the cards are stacked against him,” Steele said.

However, Steele feels that his popularity has reached the point where he can stand alone as an entrepreneur in adult entertainment.

"I feel that I've established my presence in the adult market well enough. People don't buy my tapes because of the brand I'm under—they buy my tapes because of who is performing in them," Steele said.

“Make no mistake about it, nobody controls this 13-inch dick but me. And that’s the way it’s going to be from now on,” Steele added.

No written contract? What are you guys nutz?!

Quote:

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The standard Red Light District deal, usually involving no written contract, involves Giarrusso loaning talent money to start their own production company, interest free.

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That doesnt sound fair to me a verbal contract should be the same as a written one. I cant believe Dion would be such a scumbag . I guess we will have to wait and see how this turns out.

Looks like Dion has rocketed back to the top of the shit list!

Wanker Wang writes on LukeFord.com:

Since Thursday, I've been hearing from sources inside Red Light District about a major battle for the soul of Red Light. Dion Giarusso who was the President and Salesperson at Red Light became involved in a fist fight with his brother over alleged financial improprieties. Now, I personally have alot of love for Dion. I think he's a damn good salesperson whether with distributors or even with making deals. But it seems that those deals were made of sand and they're going to blow away. I'm not going to even make public what I've heard from inside Red Light District. There's no reason to. All I can say is that if they are as shady as reported, it behooves the senses.

The greatest success story in porn history has been Red Light. Over the past two years, they exploded into the marketplace like a roman candle and coursed through the many veins of the consumer's consciousness like warm liquid gold. However, if all is true, it was a complete mirage to begin with. They were able to hit the marketplace like a complete explosion and hit more shelf space quicker than any gonzo company in history. Unfortunately, I've heard from numerous distributors that most of this had to deal with undercutting the competition by selling product at dirt cheap prices. They were able to lure the best directors, the best male talent, the best of everything with outrageous deals, seemingly too good to be true. They saturated the Internet by licensing their content at dirt cheap prices. They sold foreign rights at dirt cheap prices. Funny thing is, alot of those titles sold to foreign countries came directly back to the States. There were cash deals even lower than the invoicing price. Don't believe me? Ask distributors.

Speaking of Vince ... apparently it is the director they started with who is lobbying to take over the general manager position of Red Light in the post-Dion years. But who will be the salesperson? Without the salesperson who intimately knows his distributors, any porn company is dead in the water. After all, this is the company that supposedly sold 20,000 copies of No Cum Dodging Allowed and, eight months later, the director is in the hole bigger than he ever was ... These bogus numbers were a fraud from day one. Perhaps it was 20,000 units sold but is it possible that half of that was sold on the side?

Dion, what a loser your turning out to be. There are a lot of scumbags in this industry , Liars alike - but your own brother? SHAME ON YOU

cant wait to see combat zone