LEGAL & ETHICAL

CONSTRAINTS
By TJ Harvey Kelly
 Legal & • In today’s modern creative media sector,
producers have to be extremely cautious and
Ethical tread lightly as more and more subjects are
becoming unacceptable to belittle or demean
Constraints in the media, it is for this reason that ethical
constraints are put in place to protect both the
producers and the consumers of the media.
Gender • Gender is quickly becoming one of the most
controversial topics when it comes to the media. With
the rise of the MeToo movement helping to call out
large Hollywood producers abusing their power, the
industry is being shaken down to its core as sexism and
sexual assault at the workplace are well known for
being linked to Hollywood and the media. 
• With this exposure to the everyday sexism in the
industry, more and more jobs are popping up for women
in the media industry to finally give them the voice the
industry has fought so hard to silence.
Religion & • Religion has always been an extremely touchy subject
when it comes to the creative media industry, with

Religious children’s cartoons showing money hungry villains as

having predominant noses and with shows such as

Beliefs family guy depicting Muslims as terrorists. A recent

example of this came when rapper Lil Nas X released a
music video which sexualised both Satan and hell whilst
making fun of the catholic god, causing a huge uproar
and costing Lil Nas X his deal with Nike. This shows
that religion has and always will be a touchy subject for
the media, but it is getting better as shows such as The
Simpsons now include characters of all religions as
being equals.
 Legal Issues • These constraints are placed to make sure that
nothing harmful to any gender, religion, sexual
& Constraints orientation, etc, reaches the public as it may be
dangerous for some viewers as they deem it as
a personal attack on their character. It is for
this reason that the 2010 Equality Act was put
in place to simplify the guidelines for media
producers to know exactly what it is they can
and can’t get away with in the industry.
Copyright Laws • To ensure that everyone’s creation in the media
industry is protected, copyright laws were put
in place to protect your intellectual property
from being stolen and re-uploaded under a new
name. A loophole to this, however, is if the
person re-uploading the content brands it as
“parody” and in this case there would have to
be a legal dispute over the differences between
the real product and the copy.