It’s not prostitution

Here’s some more detail- in America anyway. You can’t just film sex and call it porn. Filming sex on private property falls under all the same laws as anything else. So noise laws, maximum occupancy laws, and laws about how visible sex can be (laws vary state to state but even if you’re on private property but can be seen from a public place, you can be breaking laws on public exposure etc.) However- once you hire- pay- the actors to participate it isn’t just filming sex. It’s porn. Porn has all the above laws but also you must consider wether the area you are filming in (private or not) is zoned for business or filming. Any hired porn performers are required to have their age verified, and the producer or production company must have an official and on record “keeper of records” who stores the required federal information to prove performers were of age at the time of shooting. There are model releases, film permits, and additional paperwork that must be completed and available on...

... request. This includes all the prudent and required documents any business is required by law to have such as licensing, accounting documents, insurance, etc. Depending on time and place you might have to also provide proof of testing for the performers or proof of protection against STD’s. California has the most court rulings establishing he legal framework for porn shoots. Manynotjer states do not have any significant history in the courts and so while this ambiguity COULD work in ones favor it is also risky as a judge isn’t bound by precedent and a ruling can go any way as opposed to a place where you know reasonably well if you are within the law or not by your actions. In short- you cannot simply claim to be making a porno and get off scott free. If one were to go through the trouble to get bare minimum paperwork and establish a “keeper of records,” and gather and validate the information of the prostitures before filming-

One could in theory solicit prostitures freely and without legal consequence so long as one were careful to maintain the front of a legitimate business- however if you are outside a jurisdiction with clear legal framework for sex filming you would still be st the judge and prosecutions mercy and likely have an uphill and expensive legal battle. Likewise, so long as the Jane/John and the prostitute both maintained no money was exchanged for sex, and no money was witnessed being exchanged negotiated, and one were filming, one could claim that they were simply having filmed sex or making amereuer sex films with an acquaintance. However this is impractical as there would be little case to begin with if no exchange was witnessed or observed being discussed, so the police would be unaware of illicit activity most likely in that case anyway, and unlikely to “raid” if they were, and a DA would have a weak case going in.

Tl:dr- there are a crap ton of legal requirements from federal, state, down to local about filming for profit or filming sex using paid actors. If you haven’t preemptively done a bunch of paperwork and established the required federal records for minimum performer age, you could still be legally arrested and prosecuted for prostitution as well as adding several crimes of compliance including a few federal charges for non compliance. In short- if money changes hands, just filming or claiming your shooting porn doesn’t protect you.