Unit 1 - A1: Legal Issues & Regulation

Unit 1- Legal Issues

Legal Issues are issues which are related to the media and involve checking for false statements before the copy goes to print, its an important step to ensure that publishers or directors don’t commit libel by printing inaccurate or falsified facts or statements about people or events and checking films or media platforms things which may cause harm to the audience.

Identify key media institutions, responsible for regulating (controlling) the industry (ASA/BBFC). Find one example for each, of where texts have been banned or classification has changed to suit audiences.

One key media institution which is responsible for regulating the industry is the BBFC which is the British Board of Film Classification which is an non-governmental, independent body whom classifies or gives the go ahead in some aspects to movies, videos games and computer games. They tend to gather feedback or information from the General/Wider public from which they gain feedback from which therefore has an influence on their decisions. The BBFC consists of 30 examiners who often have to have expert film knowledge and quite a qualified level of social awareness in order to be able to understand reasons for things and weigh out arguments. They classify these three types of media formats based upon 5 main categories which consists of Sex & Nudity, Taste & Decency, Bad Language and Violence which enable them to the following ranges which as ‘U’ which stands for Universal, 12A which applies to anyone over the age of 12, 15 which is suitable for those over the age of 15 and 18 which is for those over 18 and most recently R18 which therefore means it contains adult sex scenes.

The BBFC do have quite strict guidelines so therefore due to this there have been many cases where by texts have been banned or the classification has changed in order to suit the given audience which it is more suitable for. An example of this is ‘The Exorcist’ which was a film analysed by the BBFC however was banned for 11 years and then the classification was changed for it. The film was already deemed to have caused controversy in the US where it had been reported to have caused panicking, vomiting and heart attacks whilst being watch in the cinema, due to the this the BBFC asked to analyse and look over some scenes again which were through to go again the Protection of Children Act as a should a young actress who was in a vulnerable position and contained quite indecent images which may have lacked decency. After constant discussion, the BBFC decided to remove the video from the shelves for 11 years due to the fact that the protagonist was 12 years of age therefore meaning that the target audience may well have been underage which was seen to be quite inappropriate and in addition to this, its classification changed from a ‘X’ certificate to an ‘18’ uncut for video/DVD release which therefore decrease the number of young people who were prone to such material.

ASA which is the Advertising Standards Authority which is another UK independent body regulatory system which regulates or controls advertising across all forms of media so therefore essential applying their rules and guidelines in order to protect the public by ensuring that complains are dealt with and also checking the media to ensure that there is no harmful, misleading or offensive content in adverts. A good point to also add on here would be that as noticed, most companies which deal with legal issues are usually independent or non-governmental bodies which therefore means that they have no sort of influence or connection with powerful and influential bodies such as the Government which means that they are not Bias and most decisions made by them are influenced by either themselves or the public.

One example of the work of ASA and how they have dealt with an Adventism which they have perceived to be misleading, harmful or offensive is the ‘Prada/Miu Miu’ clothing advert which consisted of a very young model, wearing Miu Miu products, laying or reclining on a bed while looking straight at the camera in a way which may be deemed as quite sexual and inappropriate. The ASA on this occasion acted on complaints from the public and took further action by saying that the child or young girl was dressed and posed in a way which showed her to be a sexual object and in a sense quite vulnerable which therefore led to the advert being banned due to the fact that it was said to cause serious offences i.e. children being viewed as sexual objects.

OFCOM is a further media institution which is responsible for regulating the industry which is government approved, its main focus is to regulate the TV and radio sectors, fixed line telecoms and mobiles and postal services.

An example of OFCOM in action in this industry is a case where OFCOM took action and banned a Radio advert which was seen as using ‘Derogatory’ and potentially offensive language. The Radio advert from a supermarket called Somerfield was banned due to its use of the word ‘faggot’ which have been deemed to be potentially offensive. The advert consisted of a Husband complaining to his wife about how they eat the same meals every day and when she goes on to tell him that he’s getting his usual faggots and then he goes on to reply ‘I’ve got nothing against faggots, I just don’t fancy them’. This came to the attention of OFCOM when three listeners complained about the use of faggots and its reference to homosexuality which therefore led OFCOM to ban the advert again in any form as it was deemed to have potentially cause serious offence and also be connected with homosexuality which is highly inappropriate and offensive.

Explain what the BECTU trade union does and why it is important.

The BECTU, Broadcasting, Entertainment, Communication, Theatre Union is a trade union in the UK which is focused around the media, broadcasting, film, independent production, digital media, arts and etc.

It aims to ensure and enforce fairness within and throughout this industry and protect workers and their rights so for instance, this institution works and provides services such as making negotiations between employers concerning pay, contracts and the workers, giving personal advice and representing individuals who may require it as they may be seen as weak or sometimes victims by larger companies, protecting jobs and working to improve pay and conditions for workers.

BECTU as a trade union is important because they are quite helpful and reliable in everything that they do. The fact that trade unions as such especially in big industries where by people are able to work ‘freelance’ and roles are often downgraded, there needs to be some sort of discipline and clear communication so therefore through having the BECTU, It decreases the chance of workers being exploited and misunderstood but instead more respected and more able to speak out. The BECTU is also important because it aids effective communication between the workers and employers. They provide the advice and support to ensure that the differences of opinion do not turn into major conflicts and that workers have that level of comfortability  to be able to speak out and love what they do.

Define specific legal issues that may arise in any TV or film production and find examples of where professional productions have been jeopardized by these issues (Clearance and copyright)

There are many legal issues that arise in the media industry, especially when it comes to TV or film production and below I will outline some of the many and also some examples of where these professional productions have been jeopardized by these issues.

One specific legal issues which may arise is Copyright. Copyright is a form of protection given to the authors or creators of “original works of authors,” including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic and other intellectual works this is an issue because it only protects the application of the idea and not the idea itself for instance, a case of music when the song ‘Blurred Lines’ was sued under copyright laws as the family of Marvin Gayle claimed that Robin Thicke stole from Gaye's "Got to Give It Up".

A further legal issue which may arise is Confidentiality, in film and TV production, there are always certain things which needed to be kept secret so that other complains can’t copy their idea and so it doesn’t ruin the plot of the story to the audience. Employers will often need to sign a confidentiality agreement form when working on a project therefore it is essential that this issue is kept under control.

Clearance is also a legal issue which may arise in any TV or Film production. Clearance involves you only being able to show something in this instance a Film or TV show in public if it is cleared which essentially means that that you have written permission to use everything which appears in your film or show however isn't yours so for instance, if you wanted to use some footage of someone in your video which does not belong to you, you must insure that you have clearance/written permission to use this. An example of where a professional production was jeopardized due to clearance is when Eminem was sued over by one of the rappers in 'Hotstylz' for $8 millions due to a claim that their track 'Lookin' Boy' was sampled for 25 seconds without permission.