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One of Nova Scotia's top adult film distributors is challenging the province's classification laws after being taken to court for allegedly selling an unrated film.

If convicted, Topline Entertainment could face a fine of up to $25,000.

But if it wins, it could change how the province regulates porn.

Blair Mitchell, Topline's lawyer, says he plans to argue that the province's rating fee amounts to an unconstitutional tax, as well as a backhanded way to restrict freedom of expression.

“If nobody cares about (satellite and pay-per-view) signals that are coming in and are unregulated, then the makers and distributors of adult entertainment are being treated discriminatorily,” said Mitchell, speaking on behalf of the company registered to Craig MacLean of Dartmouth.

The province charges $3.47 per minute to rate porn flicks heading to shop shelves or the big screen.

For the average-length film – about 110 minutes, according to one retailer – the price tag is more than $380. That's almost 11 times more than the province charges to rate non-adult films released to home video.

This suggests that adult films are being targeted and the rating fee is really an indirect tax in disguise, Mitchell argues.

And he says it's one the province can't legally levy.

But one tax-law expert says this aspect of Mitchell's defence lies in a legal grey zone and may not hold up.

Michael Deturbide, associate dean of the Dalhousie law school in Halifax, says that while the Constitution allows both Ottawa and the province to collect direct taxes such as income tax, technically only the federal government can levy an indirect tax.

“If you took a strict reading of the Constitution, you might conclude that provinces are not permitted to impose an indirect tax,” which are those collected by a third party, Deturbide says.

“In fact, it's been interpreted very broadly by the courts, so that it looks like in fact they can,” he says, pointing to the provincial sales tax and health services tax as examples of indirect taxes upheld by the courts.

But if Topline can beat the charge at Dartmouth provincial court in February, Mitchell says, it could be the first step in changing how the province regulates porn.