The US Supreme Court has gone crazy. They just ruled that it is freedom of speach to torture animals and film the torture. It's feedom of speech to hold dog fights and film them, and it is freedom of speech to crush small animals under spike heels and film their death. All for commercial distribution.
It was a shocker when they ruled that city governments could seize private real estate and give it to other private parties. It doesn't look like they are getting any better.
Hang on. I checked on it and what they made legal was the sale of the "depiction" of these things - not the act itself. There is a world of difference here. I think it's a horrendous practice but there is legal precedent with documentary film makers who make millions selling depictions of illegal acts (rape, murder, genocide, rioting, assault, etc....). If you start banning one genre of documentary, where do you stop?
Frankly if they want to catch the people who do these acts, films of them doing it may be exactly what it needed.