Owners of strip clubs in Iceland are planning to demand compensation from the Icelandic state because of a new legislation banning striptease. The new legislation will take effect on July 1, after which clubs will be barred from profiting from the nudity of their employees.
From the strip club Goldfinger. Photo by Páll Stefánsson.
“I haven’t violated any laws or regulations and I have invested and counted on being able to operate the club until 2013 when the current operating license runs out,” Davíd Steingrímsson, who runs the strip club Vegas in Reykjavík, told Fréttabladid.
Grétar Ingi Berndsen, who runs Ódal, another Reykjavík strip club, agrees. “I have a permit until the end of 2011, which has become void and I will presumably receive compensation for that.”
Both Berndsen and Steimgrímsson are also considering suing Social Democrat MP Steinunn Valdís Óskarsdóttir for libel—she stated that the operation of strip clubs involved organized crime and human trafficking.
Ásgeir Davídsson, the owner of the strip club Goldfinger in Kópavogur, has yet to decide whether he will sue the state for compensation. He stated that his business will suffer up to ISK 800 million (USD 6.2 million, EUR 4.6 million) in financial damages because of the legislation.
Óskarsdóttir, who is chairperson of the Althingi parliament’s General Committee, said two general committees have reviewed this case and that almost all MPs are in agreement of it.
“The parliament often passes legislations which change the situation. If people believe they have right for compensation they just have see if they do,” Óskarsdóttir commented, adding that this particular issue had been reviewed while the legislation was worked on.
Click here to read more about the new legislation.
