Unit 1 FACT SHEET Tyler Smith

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 is a CIVIL law meaning breaking the law will end up in a fine of up to
£50,000. This law stops people from using other people's intellectual property such as logos,
music, product names etc. The purpose of this law is to ensure that their work is copyrighted
work and not someone else's, meaning no other organisation can take credit for their work.
When producing a magazine the producers must use their own images and articles to avoid
breaking copyright law and if they use others' work they need written permission before
they publish the magazine. This law covers written work, films and plays, music, books and
sound recordings.
This law specifically applies to Take a Break as when they are producing the work they must
use their own work, when Take a Break uses images of people in their magazine they will
need documented permission to use text and images.

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 is a CRIMINAL law which means when breaking this law you could be arrested if broken.
This law protects people from discrimination of their race, religion, beliefs, if they are
pregnant, being married, becoming transsexual, their gender or any disabilities.
The producers will review the magazine making sure there is no discriminative content used
to make sure they do not break the law.
The producers of Take a Break will make sure they do not break this law by having multiple
people check over the magazine articles and photos to make sure there is no discrimination
against anyone in the articles in the images or text.

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:
This is a CIVIL law. This law protects people from getting their work stolen or copied e.g.
names, brands, designs or your inventions. You can own an intellectual property by creating
the work and buying the intellectual property. Ideas, designs and layout and do not copy
another company's work and call it their own.
The producers of Take a Break will not break this law as they will use their own designs ,
layouts, name and house style.

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:
This is a CRIMINAL law meaning breaking this law could lead to an arrest or a fine. The
obscene publications act protects people from obscene images and text, for example,
explicit content/images.
Producers must review the magazine to make sure there are no obscene images or language.
Take a Break will make sure not to break this law as they will not publish any articles with
obscene language or content for example explicit pictures of anyone or anything nor any
profound language. They will ensure that anything obscene is not published or censored.

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 is a CIVIL law meaning breaking this law will cause you to have an unlimited fine.
This law protects people from having other people gaining access to their land for
photographs or any stuff whilst producing the magazine.
Take a Break will not break this law as when they produce the magazine they will not go on
any land that is not theirs. Although most of the photographs are taken and sent by the
audience when the Take a Break producers take photographs or whilst they are producing
the magazine they will not trespass, they will most likely take the photos in a studio, if they
were to take photographs on private land they will make sure to get a legal document
before entering the site.

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:
This is a CRIMINAL law meaning you could be fined or be arrested if you break this law. This
law protects people's information making sure they are not intruded upon.
Producers will make sure they do not take pictures of random people and post them in
articles. They must ask permission from all of the people in the photographs.
Take a Break producers will make sure not to break this law as they will ask permission from
the models before taking or using the photographs in the magazine. They will not show
anyone's phone number or email address in the magazine unless they have gotten written
permission.

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:
This law can be punished with a criminal or civil offence. This law is a freedom of expression
and protects a product's reputation. Magazine producers will make sure they check that
their content is real and have proof of authenticity, they will also be very careful on what
they post in the magazine. It is libel that is relevant to magazine production rather than
slander because it’s written.
Magazine producers will not publish false information that will damage the reputation of a
person, and they will not make any written statements without the correct information.
Take a Break will make sure they do not break this law as they will make sure their content
is real and has proof before publishing it as they cannot publish false information about
people as it could damage their reputation. They will read the written articles before
publishing them and will also only publish written articles as long as they have proof of the
subject.

Ethical Constraints
Ethical constraints link with what is morally right or wrong. Ethical constraints are not a legal
issue, it is based on judgments and societal standards. If ethical lines are crossed it can
create offence, harm or controversy to media products. It could cause a bad reputation for
the product and could result in losing their audience. You can complain to the regulatory
body if a product crosses the ethical line. Adverts - (ASA), Print Media - (ISPO).

Protecting Under 18s

Protecting Under 18s is done by protecting people under the age of 18. The content must be
appropriate for people of that age group. Under 18s must also be protected within the
content of a magazine. This means that there can be no abusive language, explicit images or
any violence in the content that is aimed at under 18s. If under 18s were to be exposed to
any explicit or inappropriate content it could mean that the representation of the company
and yourself can be damaged, it could also potentially lose your audience as they would be
no longer interested in your content as it would be deemed offensive.
Take a Break will make sure they don’t break this rule as they will review their content
before publishing making sure there is no intrusion of the under eighteen. Breaking this law
can result in the company losing their audience as they wouldn’t be interested in a magazine
that has broken a law.

Representation
Representation refers to the way in which people, places or events are portrayed in a media
product. In a media product nothing is real, it is a representation of reality, it is constructed
therefore creating a particular representation of people, places and events through camera
shots, editing, sound and Mise en Scene. Stereotypes are specific representations reduced
to a few determining characteristics, they are often negative and they are reflected by the
media. If there is a negative representation in any images or text of a magazine that could
cause offence to someone in that social group.

Take a Break will make sure not to break this rule as the magazine producers must
completely avoid all negative stereotypes and they will make sure they don’t include them in
the images or text. After that the magazine will get reviewed to make sure they’re avoiding
any negative stereotypes and representations in their images and text.

Production Methods
Production methods stop any information being leaked that could impact a person's
reputation. Production methods in media are when things such as hidden microphones to
get personal information from people to try and catch people out are considered to be
ethically wrong as it is an invasion of privacy. To avoid this production companies can only
use what information they have been given by the people they are interviewing. They must
not use any information that they have not been given permission to use.
Take a Break will make sure that they do not leak any information about a person which
could damage their reputation. They will not interview someone with a hidden microphone
at all unless they have the consent to do so. They will only use information given from
people that know

Content
Content includes stuff like images and text making sure it is all appropriate to all and that it
is not harmful or offensive. Magazines must not be seen to support negative ideas or actions
and must not glamourise negative or dangerous behaviour. Production companies must
make sure that their content is not offensive in any way. They do this by checking each
individual article making sure there is no content that could be deemed offensive.
Take a Break has to make sure that their content is appropriate as some of their audience
are fairly young. This means that there can be no explicit content included in any of the
copies of the magazine.