Flynt seeks $5bn porn bail-out from Congress

Two of the biggest names in American pornography, Larry Flynt (pictured) and Joe Francis, have written to Congress requesting a $5 billion bailout of their industry. "The government is handing out money," Francis, whose magazine titles include Girls Gone Wild, tells E! News. "They're moving toward a nationalised economy, and Larry and I felt we might as well be a part of it."

Flynt, the publisher of Hustler and producer of porn films, added: "People are too depressed to be sexually active. This is very unhealthy as a nation. Americans can do without cars and such but they cannot do without sex."

Flynt has other concerns right now. This week he launched a legal action against his nephews who have set up a pornography film company using the family name. While he is vexed by this, he appears far more concerned about the standard of material the boys are producing, which he believes is inferior to his own and could badly damage his multi-million brand.

Flynt, a veteran of legal actions - he famously fought a series of battles against the US government involving the First Amendment, later turned into the 1996 film The People v Larry Flint - says that Jimmy Flynt II and Dustin Flynt are putting out "inferior products" and "knock-off goods". He said: "To come into the adult entertainment business and use my name not only confuses people who buy my products, but if they're not maintaining a certain quality, it could also hurt my name."

But Jimmy and Dustin, who worked for their uncle for more than a decade before he fired them last year, seem game to defend the action. Dustin insists that his latest film "surpasses anything Hustler's ever done," adding that his uncle was suing him and his brother out of "inferiority issues".

Some might say that the boys should base their defence on the issue of quality. As reported here, Flynt's most publicised porno film last year was entitled Who's Nailin' Paylin?, which featured a look-a-like of the failed Republican vice-presidential candidate, Sarah Palin, and her encounter with a pair of drunken, priapic Russian soldiers. ·