Unit 8: Understanding the Television and Film Industry: Legal and Ethical obligations in the television and film industries (Assignment 3 of 5)
Here is a great definition of the Obscene Publications act that I found from a website called Internet Watch Foundation. Here is their definition "Obscene Publications Act 1959 and 1964. The law makes it an offence to publish, whether for gain or not, any content whose effect will tend to "deprave and corrupt" those likely to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it."
I think this a good definition because it highlights the key points.
Here is a link to their website - https://www.iwf.org.uk/what-we-do/how-we-assess-and-remove-content/laws-and-assessment-levels/laws-for-criminally-0
An example of the Obscene Publications act is the movie Human Centipede. This movie was banned in countries, including the UK. This was because of the strong sexual scenes and violence. The BBFC declared this as an obscene film and was not aloud to be shown in many countries. I think this should of defiantly been banned as I have watched the movie. The movie was disgusting, the violence and sexual scenes were something i have never seen before. I defiantly think this movie should of been banned.
Another example of the Obscene Publications act is the movie Clockwork Orange. This was banned in the UK due to claims of copycat violence. Stanley Kubrick and Warner Brothers have been working to get the ban lifted as they feel it should be perfectly fine to watch anywhere. I don't think this movie should of been banned, if you look at the other types of movies that have been banned for the same reasons. They are on a different level to this, as this does have strong violence but nothing compared to something like Human Centipede.
Here is a good definition of the Privacy law, i found this definition online from Wikipedia. "Privacy Law refers to the laws that deal with the regulation of personal information about individuals, which can be collected by governments and other public as well as private organisations and its storage and use." I think this is a great definition because i talks about the law in a simple manor.
Here is the link to the web page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Privacy_law
An example of the Privacy Law been broken is the "News Of The World" Newspaper scandal. They broke the law when it was made public they were hacking into people's phones, especially celebrities. The celebrities range from Brad Pitt to Paul O'Grady, hundreds of celebrities were effected by this scandal. Even normal people were being effect by this too not just celebrities, they also hacked a dead girls phone and even Madeline Mccann's parents phone to try get private information from people. When the news broke out into the public eye, News Of The World is now no longer a Newspaper.
Copyright Law: Copyright is a legal right created by the law of a country that grants the creator of an original work exclusive rights for its use and distribution. This is usually only for a limited time. The exclusive rights are not absolute but limited by limitations and exceptions to copyright law, including fair use.
An example of someone breaking the copyright law would be if somebody uses someone else's property. Such as Video Footage, Music and also any kind of work somebody has created. If you use that without paying an agreed amount or asked for the permission you are breaking the copyright law and could face prosecution or a heavy fine.
An example of a copyright case was when Elijah Schkeiban claimed James Cameron stole his screenplay for the World Of Pandora. Cameron won $2.5 Billion in a case fought by Sci-Fi writer Bryant Moore, who was accused James Cameron of steeling his screenplay.
Libel Law: Libel is a method of defamation expressed by print, writing, pictures, signs, effigies, or any communication embodied in physical form that is injurious to a person's reputation, exposes a person to public hatred, contempt or ridicule, or injures a person in his/her business or profession.
An example of somebody breaking the Libel Law, would be somebody in the form of writing and it could be either slander, discrimination, racism or sexism. Somebody could write a false Tweet on Twitter which can be seen as Slander. This is breaking the law if it is false, and could potentially ruin somebody's career. Someone could also discriminate someone or a group, such as somebody could discriminate against somebody/group who is homosexual. Also people could be racist and insult somebody because of the colour of their skin. There are many ways you could break the libel law.
Laws: Laws are written and you MUST abide by them, breaching a law could end up in prosecution and even imprisonment. it is the system of rules which a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and which it may enforce by the imposition of penalties.
Contracts
Confidentiality: A Confidentiality Agreement is also known as non-disclosure agreement. It is simply a contract between two or more parties where the subject of the agreement is a promise that information conveyed will be maintained in secrecy.
Exclusivity: Exclusivity contracts are exclusive dealing arrangements are essentially requirements contracts in which a seller agrees to sell all or a substantial portion of its products or services to a particular buyer, or when a buyer similarly agrees to purchase all or a portion of its requirements of a product or service from a particular seller.
There are many different types of contracts in the media industry such as, Full Time, Permanent, Part Time, Fixed Term, Freelance, Shift Work, Office Hours and Salaried.
Full Time, Permanent means you work on a full time basis usually 39 hours per week. A permanent contract means you are a regular member of staff part of the company. Part Time means you would work a fraction of the full time hours, but you will have set number of hours a week and are entitled to some benefits of full time work. Fixed Term and Freelance are similar as you work for a set amount of time but only for a certain length it is not permanent. Shift Work means you will work a set amount of hours at a certain time of day such as 7am - 3pm. Office Hours are traditionally 9am - 5pm every day Monday to Friday. And then salaried is where you will be given a yearly salary but paid monthly so for example, it would be advertised as £12,000 a year. But broke down into 12 months it would be £1000 a month.
Ethics
Ethics are like a moral code that you should follow, although you legally do not have to. they are moral principles that govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an activity.
Embarrassing Bodies is an example of a TV Show that pushes Media Ethics. This is because it would have to be shown past 9pm at night for it to be acceptable so children aren't watching something that could scare them and is highly inappropriate for a younger audience member. Most episodes feature nudity, and weird body disfunction's. I think this show is morally wrong as people have something they are embarrassed about and go on a national TV Show and show it for millions of viewers.
Sex Box is another example of a TV Show that extremely pushes Media Ethics. This TV Show is where two random people or a couple go on National TV and have sex in a room on TV. This is morally and ethically wrong as many people will be offended by this Show and it already have 31 complaints in the first week it aired in 2013. The show can also offend people with certain religious beliefs too, who believe waiting until marriage for sex with their partner.
Naked Attraction is another example of a TV Show which pushes the ethics in Media. This TV show is where people stand in a box with just their body showing and people have to decide if they are attracted to them or not just by looking at their body. This is morally wrong because some people will say its not just about looks and that they don't know the person properly before making a decision.
Another case was Sachsgate, this was a case where Russell brand and Jonathan ross left a series of lewd messages on Andrew Sachs voicemail, this led to rand and Ross were criticized by a number of people including then prime minister Gordon Brown, and the BBC received a record number of complaints. The BBC suspended Ross while it and Ofcom launched investigations. Both Brand and Radio 2 controller Lesley Douglas resigned from the BBC. On 30 October, the BBC suspended Ross without pay for 12 weeks. The BBC was fined £150,000 by Ofcom
