Task 3 By Alex Pereira (Industry Codes of Practice, Watershed and The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (1998) & Millie West (The BBFC, Ofcom and The Defamation Act (2013)

Industry Codes of Practice The Ofcom broadcasting codes outlines the rules which programmes broadcast on television and radio in the UK must abide by. They are put in place to control industry conduct. One part of the broadcasting codes is to protect under 18 year olds. It states that material that might seriously impair the physical, mental or moral development of people under 18 must not be broadcast.This prohibits the broadcast of the most potentially harmful and offensive material at any time, for example very explicit sexual practices, obscene material, very graphic violence. Another part of the Ofcom broadcasting codes is to do with subliminal messages. This part of the Code states that techniques must not be used which exploit the possibility of conveying a message to viewers or of otherwise influencing their minds, without their being fully aware of what has occurred. This means that if an image is deliberately included that is so quick that the average viewer would not realise that they'd seen it, then that would be unacceptable.

The BBFC The BBFC stands for ‘The British Board of Film Classification’. Introduced in 1912, with a previous name of ‘The British Board of Film Censor’, are a UK based non- governmental company that get to decide what age classification a film should have. This means that they tell the film’s production company what it should be rated and what they say, goes. Not only do the BBFC put age certifications on films in the UK, but they also age rate online music videos as well. They have the power to rate music videos a 12, 15 or 18 but no less than that. (Pictures on the next slide) Censoring media such as films, music videos, aids in helping to safeguard the public from inappropriate material or content, based on age. Over time, expectations of age change, for example what may or may not be considered inappropriate may differ over time. When expectations of age change, so do age restrictions. As a result, this means that what may have been an 18 ten years ago, may now be considers age 15 rated material, simply due to the change in age expectations.

The BBFC The examples: Warner Brother Entertainment: Interstellar Anchor Bay Entertainment: Asylum Disney Pixar's: Monsters University Twentieth Century Fox Film: Corporation Home Alone Lions Gate: Cabin in the Woods Warner Brother Entertainment: Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire Paramount Pictures: The Wolf of Wall Street

Ofcom OFCOM stands for Office of Communications. They are the communications regulators regarding TV programmes in the UK. They create a set of regulations that all TV programmes must follow. For example one of these guidelines include the disallowance of racial, ethnic or cultural remarks - coming under the protection for members of the public, and others against offensive or harmful material in television or radio. All shows must ensure, as mentioned, that they go by Ofcom guidelines. If Ofcom get a significant number of complaints about a particular TV programme then then there are concerns that a channel may have breached the Ofcom guidelines. As a result, Ofcom will perform an investigation. This will be to see if the initial terms and guidelines have been broken. Following this, if the programme has been seen to have breached their contract, then they may be fined, or in a worse case scenario, the programme may be cancelled. A key example of an Ofcom case, is the well known Big Brother. Every year they receive the most complaints from the public. Originally, the show was shown on channel 4, but as the complaints came continuously rolling in each year it became too much for the channel to handle and as a result, sold the infamous programme to channel 5. Britain is looked highly upon for TV structure, and so it is crucial that the guidelines are tight and standards are high, so that other countries can use our structure as a guide to aid their own.

Watershed The watershed means the time when TV programmes which might be unsuitable for children can be broadcast. The watershed begins at 9pm and material unsuitable for children should not be shown before 9pm or after 5.30am. Some of the unsuitable material that cannot be shown is everything from sexual content to violence, graphic or distressing imagery and swearing. Although the watershed allows unsuitable material for children there is a limit to what can be shown.The transition to more adult material must not be abrupt and the strongest material should appear later in the evening. But Ofcom’s rules protect viewers from offensive and harmful content. If broadcasters break the rules then given broadcasters can be given a fine and the content aired will be removed. Since 2003 Ofcom has taken action on more than 300 occasions when broadcasters have scheduled unsuitable content before or immediately after the watershed. In most of these cases it has been inappropriate music videos.

Watershed An example of a programme that is shown before the watershed is ‘The Chase’. It is a quiz show presented by Bradley Walsh. It is shown before the watershed as it does not contain any inappropriate content, it is an education show which is on at 5 - 6pm. An example of a programme that is shown during the watershed is ‘Family Guy’. It is American adult animated sitcom which has sick, twisted and politically incorrect features. It is shown during the watershed due to its inappropriate content which is not suitable for under 18’s. Sometimes a show that is usually shown during the watershed can be shown beforehand if the innapropriate content is edited out. This can only be done for certain shows as shows with constant inappropriateness cannot be done.

Copyright, Designs and Patents act (1988) The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, is the current UK copyright law. It gives the creators of literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works the right to control the ways in which their material may be used. The rights cover: Broadcast and public performance, copying, adapting, issuing, renting and lending copies to the public. In most cases, the creator will also have the right to be identified as the author and to object to distortions of his work. The Copyright, Designs and Patents act is used to ensure that people's intellectual property is protected. One example of copyright the purge

The Defamation Act (2013) The Defamation Act was introduced in 2013. Its aim is to protect individuals from their reputations being damaged by other people or companies. Someone may be accused of act or name that could harm their reputation out of the simplicity that it may be true, meanwhile a person could be accused of an act or a name in order for their reputation to be damaged. If a person goes out of their way, to lie and put another person's status, role, or occupation at risk, and they are found to be lying, then they may put themselves in the firing line for being sued, because then have tried to harm another person’s repute. There are 2 types of Defamation, these are Liable, and Slander. Liable is the form of defamation that includes written and published work. For example, newspaper or magazine articles, diary entries, or blog posts. This form tends to get accusers in much more trouble than slander does, because of the ease of proof. Slander however is much harder to prove, unless there are many whiteness’. Slander is the act of spoken or oral accusation of a person.

The Defamation Act (2013) Defamation is usually acted towards people who have a high standing status in society, for reasons mentioned before, such as the truthfulness of the accusation, or to harm the accused’s position. For example, celebrities; not between a friendship group. In the case of comedy, the act of defamation is considered to be okay up to a certain point, if it's for humour.But if a comedian is seen to be constantly accusing another person, and it could be seen as potentially damaging their status, then that would be considered defamation. One example of a UK based defamation case, is with Katie Hopkins. She is well known for accusing others, using derogatory names, and being offensive. One example of this is when she said “I don’t really like fat people, I wouldn’t like to meet a ginger in the dark”. Moreover she also commented about Gemma Collins (a ‘The Only Way Is Essex’ - reality TV star) “Well done for being that fat!” This is seen as defamation as she could and may well damage Miss. Collins’ reputation or status.