Unit 1 Fact Sheet Charlie McCool

Legal and Ethical Issues

Legal Issues

Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988

The law gives the creators of literary, dramatic, musical, artistic works, sound recordings,
broadcasts, films and typographical arrangement of published editions, rights 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.

This is a CIVIL law not a CRIMINAL law.

This means it is not a criminal offence to break the law, which could result in a fine or jail
sentence.

Instead, the person who owns the copyright has to sue the person they believe has broken
the law. The case is then heard in a civil court and if the person is found guilty of breaking
copyright law then they will have to pay damages to the owner of the copyright. The
amount of damages is set by the court.

Types of work protected

Literary  
Song lyrics, manuscripts, manuals, computer programs, commercial documents, leaflets,
newsletters and articles etc.
Dramatic  
Plays, dance etc.
Musical  
Recordings and score.
Artistic  
Photography, painting, sculptures, architecture, technical drawings/diagrams, maps, logos.
Typographical arrangement of published editions
Magazines, periodicals, etc.
Sound recording
May be recordings of other copyright works, e.g. musical and literary.
Film  
Video footage, films, broadcasts and cable programmes.
The Copyright (Computer Programs) Regulations 1992 extended the rules covering literary
works to include computer programs.
Duration of copyright

For literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works: 70 years from the end of the calendar year
in which the last remaining author of the work dies.
If the author is unknown, copyright will last for 70 years from end of the calendar year in
which the work was created, although if it is made available to the public during that time,
by publication, authorised performance, broadcast, exhibition etc, then the duration will be
70 years from the end of the year that the work was first made available.
Sound Recordings: 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which the work was
created or, if the work is released within that time, 70 years from the end of the calendar
year in which the work was first released.
Films: 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the last principal director, author
or composer dies.
If the work is of unknown authorship: 70 years from end of the calendar year of creation, or
if made available to the public in that time, 70 years from the end of the year the film was
first made available.
Typographical arrangement of published editions: 25 years from the end of the calendar
year in which the work was first published.
Broadcasts and cable programmes: 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which the
broadcast was made.

APPLICATION:
The copyright law protects people from someone trying to copy their work or use someone
else's work without permission and possibly passing it off as their own.

This law impacts the magazine production because when they are making the magazine
they must make sure that what they are featuring is their own work because if it’s not and
they copy someone else’s issue they could get sued and it could be taken to court. If they
do feature someone else’s work, images or text, they have to ask for permission to use it or
they could get in trouble and they need to have a documented permission as proof this
relates to the film magazines because they could be using someone else’s work so they need
to ask for permission if they want their work in there issue. When they have official
documentation it is locked in.

This law applies to Empire even though they use their own work and own images they
should double check that it is their own work because if it isn’t they could get sued and their
company could be chut down. Empire uses the images from films that are protected
through copyright, but they must have permission to use them because they could be sued
for copyright if they don’t. This information is usually supplied by official sources from the
film as part of their marketing and promotion.

Equality Act 2010

This law legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society.
It is against the law to discriminate against anyone because of:
⮚ Age

⮚ Being or becoming a transsexual person

 ⮚ Being married or in a civil partnership

⮚ Being pregnant or on maternity leave

⮚ Disability

⮚ Race including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin

⮚ Religion/belief or lack of religion/belief

⮚ Sex

⮚ Sexual orientation

This is a CRIMINAL law.

Therefore anyone who is considered to be breaking the law could be arrested. It would
result in a criminal trial which if found guilty could result in a fine or jail sentence.

APPLICATION:
This law protects people from discrimination in their workplace or in a wider society. This
could be because of someone's religion, sexual orientation, gender, being in a civil
partnership or being married or race. They could discriminate through offensive words and
saying rude things about these things.

This rule applies to the magazine production because if they discriminate in their work or
images they could break the equality act through discrimination and to avoid discrimination
they need to proofread so that none of their magazines and check all content including
images and text to ensure that they don’t discriminate against any religions or sexual
orientations or genders . They must not offend anyone because that could ruin their
reputation and if their work.

This law applies specifically to Empire because in their images they show a range of different
protected social groups. So in the articles and images they need to be careful in what they
say or what they show in the pictures because it could be offensive and if there is any
discrimination it could cause harm and offence which will ruin their reputation.

Intellectual property
What intellectual property is
Having the right type of intellectual property protection helps you to stop people stealing or
copying:
⮚ the names of your products or brands

⮚ your inventions

⮚ the design or look of your products

⮚ things you write, make or produce

 Copyright, patents, designs and trademarks are all types of intellectual property protection.
You get some types of protection automatically, others you have to apply for.

You own intellectual property if you:

⮚ created it (and it meets the requirements for copyright, a patent or a design

⮚ bought intellectual property rights from the creator or a previous owner

⮚ have a brand that could be a trade mark e.g. a well known product name

If you believe anyone has stolen or copied your property you would sue them in civil court.

Types of protection
The type of protection you can get depends on what you’ve created. You get some types of
protection automatically, others you have to apply for.

Automatic protection

Protection you have to apply for

Type of protection Examples of intellectual property Time to allow for application
Trade marks Product names, logos, jingles 4 months
Appearance of a product including,
Registered designs shape, packaging, patterns, colours, 1 month
decoration
Inventions and products, eg machines
Patents Around 5 years
and machine parts, tools, medicines

APPLICATION:
Intellectual property has the right type of protection that helps to stop people stealing ideas
or copying. The protection depends on what the person has created and you get some types
of protection automatically but you have to apply for protection of the copyright laws and
the design rights.

This applies to the magazine production because when going through the production they
have to check that they haven’t used anyone else’s ideas in terms of content and design. If
they do, they could get sued for stealing ideas and using them as your own so this rule
makes sure that they don’t copy or steal ideas from someone else. So this could relate to
using someone else’s designs and making them their own and if they want to use someone
else’s designs or logos they need to ask for permission.

Empire magazine must produce its own logo and not take any product design from anyone
else. The appearance of the product title should be their own title and not copied by anyone
else. The colours of the magazine should not be copied because it would be breaking this
law. So Empire double checked everything and got a proof reader to check they have not
used someone else’s work without permission because if they publish the issue without
checking and someone else’s work has been copied they could be sued.

Obscene Publications Act 1959

For the purposes of this Act an article shall be deemed to be obscene if its effect or (where
the article comprises two or more distinct items) the effect of any one of its items is, if taken
as a whole, such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to
all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it.

In this Act ‘article’ means any description of an article containing or embodying matter to be
read or looked at or both, any sound record and any film or other record of a picture or
pictures.

This is a criminal law.

APPLICATION:
The Obscene Publications act concerns material people might find offensive including sexual
and violent images or content. It would include where if something causes serious harm
such as if something was shown that might be triggering to the audience such as sexual
assault and if that is shown it can cause harm.

This act impacts the magazine production because if they show some violent or
inappropriately sexual images in the article this could be deemed obscene as it could offend
the audience and can make the audience feel hurt and offended. Doing this could damage
the reputation of the product or company and could also result in it being shut down. They
must make sure they read through all text and check all images before sending the
magazine to the publishers to print.

This law applies to Empire because in movies sometimes they show explicit scenes so they
make sure when they add scenes from the movie or program they don’t show obscene
scenes because it can cause harm. For example when reviewing a film with an 18 certificate
Empire magazine will only include images from the film or script if it is this could be shown
in the images or in the puff sometimes or front cover. If they do show explicit scenes or
mention anything that can trigger someone they could get sued and the company would be
taken to court.

Trespass
This is a civil law.
Trespass to land consists of any unjustifiable intrusion by a person upon the land in
possession of another.
Civil trespass is actionable in the courts.
APPLICATION:
This law of trespass is when someone uses someone else's land or possession without
permission or consent.
This is a civil law which means it’s not a criminal offence but can get taken to court if you
don’t follow this law. So if the magazine company is making a photoshoot they need to ask
for permission for using their land before they use it because they could get a fine and when
they ask for permission they have to sign a document report.

So this is the same as the copyright law because if the owner of the land gave permission
without a document they could just turn around and say they didn’t ask for permission and
that could ruin the production company’s reputation. So that’s why they have to have a
documented permission slip because they can’t say they didn’t give the person permission.

The trespass law applies to Empire because if there was a photoshoot they would have to
ask for permission to have one because they can’t just start taking photos near someone’s
property because it doesn’t keep them safe.

Privacy
The introduction of the Human Rights Act 1998 incorporated into English law the European
Convention on Human Rights.

Article 8.1 of the ECHR provides an explicit right to respect for a private life:
Article 8 protects your right to respect for your private life, your family life, your home and
your correspondence (letters, telephone calls and emails, for example).
 
Privacy Law is a law which deals with the use of people’s personal information and making
sure they aren't intruded upon. These laws make sure people can't have their information
wrongly used without permission.

APPLICATION:
Privacy law is to prevent someone’s privacy and personal information from being shown in
the article or anywhere because it can be dangerous. If this law is broken it could be very
dangerous for someone and they could get sued for using personal information.

This law applies to magazine production because when they have a feature or an interview
with someone they ask for permission first if they want to be shown and they don’t give out
personal information and if they do the person featured could sue them for not protecting
their privacy.

Empire has to follow this rule by keeping everyone’s lives private or contact details,
someone’s address and personal things. If Empire mentions these without permission it
could be dangerous for someone or really affect them mentally. In the articles they proof
read through it so there is no personal information or privacy because if there is they could
get sued or have a bad reputation. One way they can avoid breaking this law is through not
publishing their phone numbers because that could cause harm or putting their address in
their issue because that could be dangerous for them.

Defamation Act 2013

This Act reformed defamation law on issues of the right to freedom of expression and the
protection of reputation. It also comprised a response to perceptions that the law as it stood
was giving rise to libel tourism and other inappropriate claims.

The Act changed existing criteria for a successful claim, by requiring claimants to show
actual or probable serious harm (which, in the case of for-profit bodies, is restricted to
serious financial loss), before suing for defamation in England or Wales.

It also enhanced existing defences, by introducing a defence for website operators hosting
user-generated content (provided they comply with a procedure to enable the complainant
to resolve disputes directly with the author of the material concerned or otherwise remove
it), and introducing new statutory defences of truth, honest opinion, and "publication on a
matter of public interest“.

LIBEL
A written, published false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation.

SLANDER
Making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation.

Defamation is a civil law and so you would need to sue someone who you believe has
damaged your reputation.

APPLICATION:
The Defamation Act 2013 is to make sure people can have freedom of expression and
protection of reputation. This could be someone writing or publishing something that is a
false statement and that could damage someone’s reputation. This applies to magazine
production because if they mention something about someone they must check if it is true
and accurate. If they are not honest and it is fake news the person's reputation could be
ruined and the magazine’s company.

This applies to Empire because usually they talk about the actors that are in the film or
programme that is in the issue so they could talk about their lives so they need to be careful
on what they say because it could cause serious harm and offence to the person. They also
need to ensure that all the content in the issue is accurate and doesn’t give out false
accusations because it could ruin someone’s reputation. This could be avoided by not using
leading images or text that accuse someone of something or in their articles when it is not
true.
 Ethical Issues

Ethical issues link with what is morally right and what is wrong. It is not a legal issue and
most of it is based on judgements and society standards. If the ethical lines are crossed it
could create offence, harm and cause controversy. If ethical lines are crossed it can cause a
bad reputation with the magazine. If the audience is offended by something they would not
want to read the magazine again so they would also lose their audience and they can
complain to the regulatory body.

Protecting Under 18s

The ethical issue for protecting under 18s is that any content or methods of production
must not damage the physical, mental or moral development of people under 18. Things
that could damage under 18s would include inappropriate sexual references, drugs or bad
language or offensive language. If their content isn’t appropriate it could cause offence or
encourage under 18s to harm themselves or commit criminal acts. In creating the content,
under 18s must also be protected. For example using under 18s as models in advertising or
when interviewing under 18 year old actors. Under 18s must not, for example, be
photographed in physical proximity to illegal substances or dangerous weapons as this could
potentially damage them. Under 18s also have more strict rules about working hours and
these rules must be kept to when photographing or interviewing under 18s.

This issue applies to magazine production because to protect the under 18s they have to be
checking if their content is appropriate for under 18s to see. If the images were too graphic
or show nudity it could offend the audience because their content is supposed to protect
them or if there is bad language or references to drugs it could be putting out a bad
message to the under 18s and encourage them to harm themselves or commit criminal acts.
If the content is about under 18s, for example an interview with a young actor, they need to
make sure it is appropriate and fair and must make sure they are protected during the
process of gathering materials and producing the article. This also applies to the magazine
production because they have to protect the audience from the content they include such
as alcohol or references to drugs or sex.

This issue applies to Empire specifically because some of the movies that are featured are
over 18s and may not be appropriate for people under 18s. Empire magazine would only
include images, quotations or refer to content from the films that is appropriate for under
18s to read or see. For example, graphic violence or inappropriate sex scenes would not be
included in an article about an 18 rated film.

Representation
The ethical issue for representation is if people who are involved in the magazine process
are all represented equally and all treated the same in the issue. This covers how people
from different social groups are covered, for example people from different religions and
sexual identities. If their magazine doesn’t represent everyone the same it could give it a
bad reputation and if there are workers make sure that there is a diversity of different
people and no discrimination against any gender, sexual orientation, race, religion.

Representation refers to the way in which people, places or events that are portrayed in
media production. In media products nothing is actually real, it is a representation of reality
and it is constructed so therefore it creates a particular representation of people, places and
events through camera shots, editing, mise en scene and sounds. Stereotypes are a big part
of representation because they are specific representations that are reduced to a few
defining characteristics and when someone talks about stereotypes it is often negatively
reinforced by the media. If there is a negative stereotype about a person or a place through
texts and images it could cause offence and distress to that person in the social group so the
magazine producers would have to avoid all negative stereotypes and double check what
they talk about because it can cause harm and Empire could lose their audience because if
Empire mention about stereotype even though it might not be used to cause offence but
because of the media and how it is represented the audience could be offended. So they
don’t mention stereotypes through their articles and images because it could cause offence.

This issue applies to Empire because in their magazines they include photos from movies or
series or articles that are about a film. Images must include actors and characters of
different ethnicities or genders. Stereotypes must not be portrayed in articles and in
features about films. Empire magazine will also promote equality by, for example, including
British- Asian films, films involving either disabled actors or disabled characters and
international films. For example, Empire Magazine reviewed a film called CODA which was
about a child growing up with deaf parents.

Production Methods
The ethical issues for production methods cover how the material is sourced and how the
product is created. For example, information for content that needs to be honestly
obtained. An example would be someone or a place being filmed without permission or that
they could have a hidden microphone and the person could have no idea so this makes it an
ethical issue. If the person who was being filmed they could be distressed and not mentally
or physically well so it could cause harm to them so they need to ask for their permission
before filming them.

One way the magazine production company relates to this is because they use different
production methods for their work and covers how the material is sourced and how the
product is created. The magazine producers need to make sure that the information for the
content has been obtained honestly. For example, they have to be clear for when an
interview is taking place so that the person who is being filmed is aware of what is
happening. For another example would be not obtaining information from somebody who
is unable to give consent for example someone who is not mentally or physically unwell.
Magazine producers would also make sure that they don’t outsource the printing to
unethical companies, for example companies that break standards of working conditions .

This ethical issue impacts Empire because in their issues they do features and interviews
with people. So when they do interviews they make sure that there are no hidden
microphones or uncomfortable questions because that would make the audience
uncomfortable because if they film or use equipment without permission they could feel
uncomfortable and will lose interest in the issue. So when they use different production
methods they must ask for permission to film a place or a person because if they don’t give
permission they could feel pressured to answer uncomfortable questions. They must not
use unethical methods like recording without people’s knowledge.

Content
The ethical issue for the content applies to the subject matter and details of a particular
product. So all the ethical issues including production methods, representation, privacy
must be applied to the content.

Magazine producers must ensure the content they provide meets the ethical standards they
must make sure that when going through the content they make sure that they do not
break any of the ethical issue such as representation, protecting under 18s because if they
have content that is offensive and does not represent people equally it could be damaging
to the company. So this links with the images and text they use because that it most of the
content in the magazine, so when they go through the production process they re read
through their content and check if they followed this ethical issue and if they do not they
will need to re do the section they failed on because if they produce it and it breaks this law
they could lose loyal supporters and it could give the company a bad reputation.

This applies to Empire because it is a film magazine and their images have scenes from
fighting movies such as star wars so they need to pick images that are not violent because it
could be offensive to someone. If the film or article is about drugs or violence it can be
offensive and cause harm so when they choose images for the magazine they make sure
they pick the ones that don’t show any violence or people supporting bad behaviour
because they have to protect under eighteen. If they have images that are disturbing they
need to put a warning or saying this does not apply to under eighteen. They should also not
add photos or articles encouraging bad behaviour because that could give the audience a
bad message and if the under 18 see that they could be encouraged to do bad things.