'' Debbie Does Dallas '' opened at New York 's Pussycat Theater in 1978 and was exhibited without a copyright notice . In 1979 , the rights-holder M & A Associates entered into an exclusive worldwide video distribution deal with VCX , whereby VCX agreed to pay M & A an advance and make royalty payments on each sale . Upon receiving a print of the film , VCX president Norman Arno contacted M & A president Arthur Weisberg to request copyright protection . Arno also retained the services of attorneys John Lappen and Peter Berger to combat unauthorized copying of the film . Before litigation could commence VCX was required to add copyright notices to all copies of the film and file registration with the United States Copyright Office ; however , VCX could not protect the rights by just adding a notice to the video cassette , since one also needed to be added to the theatrical prints . In 1981 , Berger informed Weisberg of the need to add a copyright notice to the prints that had been sent to various theaters but Weisberg refused . Because of Weisberg 's refusal to address the problem , both Lappen and Berger concluded the copyright had been lost . In 1982 , VCX terminated their contract with M & A and ceased making royalty payments , but continued to distribute the film . In 1987 M & A brought a case against VCX in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan for breach of contract . VCX argued that the contract was void due to M & A 's failure to comply with the Copyright Act of 1976 . The court found in favor of VCX , and the judge ruled that " Weisberg 's actions had thrust the film irretrievably into the United States public domain . " The film has had numerous sequels and remakes across several decades . The Internet Adult Film Database lists twelve separate films as part of the film franchise spanning from 1979 until 2007 . In the 2013 book '' Pornography and Seriality : The Culture of Producing Pleasure '' , journalist David Slayden was quoted as saying , " No other pornographic film has been remade more often than '' Debbie Does Dallas . " '' The filmography list includes : Spinoffs include : In 2001 , '' Debbie Does Dallas : The Musical '' was created by Susan L. Schwartz for the New York International Fringe Festival . In 2002 it was made into an Off-Broadway musical comedy of the same name . Unlike the original movie , the musical did not contain any actual sex or nudity , which caused some disappointment among people , as false hype had been made and the musical 's producers did nothing to dismiss it . Since then , the show has been performed around the world , often with racier direction and more explicit choreography . The story , dialogue and characters are fairly faithful to the original film , with musical numbers standing in for sex scenes or added for comic effect . As recent as 2015 , the musical version continues to be performed
New York International Fringe Festival
New York International Fringe Festival
Debbie Does Dallas