Legal and ethical considerations within the creative media sector

Legal and ethical considerations within the creative media sector

Producers within the creative media sector need to fully understand all of the laws that protect, affect and govern their work. All forms of media are created to be consumed by people, whether this be for educational or entertainment purposes. People are very easily influenced by what they see, hear and read, so it is important that producers follow laws to protect themselves from being sued, ridiculed, their reputation being damaged or in extreme cases, worse; a recent terrorist attack on the Paris offices of the controversial magazine Charlie Hebdo left 12 dead.  These laws are also in effect to protect anyone working within these media corporations, and even the public consuming them.

Several laws affect producers working within the creative media sectors. These include:

• Libel law

To put it basically, Libel is when a defamation of someone is written down such as in a magazine, an email or a website. Similar to slander, however slander is when the defamation is spoken. The Libel Law in effect in the UK allows anyone who feels they have been defamed in a published statement in a manner that has caused people to think less of them or substantially disrupted their trade or profession may take the allegation to high court. Of course, whoever is making the allegations will need substantial proof.
It is important for producers, and indeed all working within the creative media sector to have full understanding of this law to ensure anything they write or produce as factual is truthful as if you are taken to court for something you have written you could end up losing a lot of money, publicity, respect and custom. There is. however, a few grey areas within this law. If you were to unknowingly accuse a mass murderer of doing something such as never paying their television license, this wouldn't necessarily be considered defamatory as it is not really causing any damage to his reputation, however if you were to make the same allegations against the head of the BBC this would have a detrimental effect on his life and career and he could most definitely sue you. Anyone found to also repeat these allegations, despite believing they are true, could also be sued.
The defense of 'fair comment' also exists in order to make sure nobody is sued for saying that they don't like something such as KFC or Kylie Minogue. Even if you are incredibly famous and what you say could publicly damage the company you are stating your distaste for, you are still allowed to say this. Libel Law also doesn't cover the dead, or if you are to make comments in an abusive way this is not considered libelous either. For example, you could say 'Kylie Minogue is a naff singer and she is ugly!' and not be sued at all.

• Privacy law

These are the laws which allows each individual their right to their own privacy and ensures this is never compromised. This covers things such as phone numbers and addresses and any other personal information can be broadcast on the radio or the television or anything like that. Anything like this played live on air can then be played over again so this information can be collected by anyone, including the government, private organisations and even the public. This information can then be sold on, given to anyone or can be used against them and could potentially put them in danger.
A well known breach of Privacy Law was the phone hacking scandal, as it was a complete breach of privacy which nobody had the right to do.

• Obscene publications act 1959 (including later amendments)

This law governs and restricts what is allowed to be released and published within England and Wales. The official definition of criminal obscenity is if the offending item 'tends to deprave of
corrupt'. For example, in radio, this law would apply to what radio content is allowed to be broadcast to listeners. This could apply to a feature such as the radio, where the Obscene Publications Act may not allow for a certain news story to be broadcast be it particularly gruesome or disturbing, or it may only be allowed to be broadcast after 9 pm. This law is particularly reverent in the television broadcasting industry where certain adverts are not allowed to be shown after 9 pm, nor is swearing on TV shows permitted. This law is in place to not encourage children and innocents towards certain behavior, and also ensures no disturbing or damaging images are shown to the public.
An example of this act being breached was with the release of the film 'The Human Centipede 2' where it was considered too horrific and disturbing for viewing, and was ordered for the most gruesome scenes to be edited out, allowing its minimal release with the age rating of 18.

• Copyright and intellectual property law

The official name of the current act/law that protects peoples intellectual property rights in the UK is the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. Copyright is a legal right that provides the creator of original work exclusive rights as to the use and distribution of said work. This rights are only for a limited time, and the main idea of copyright is to ensure the creator is receiving full appreciation and compensation for their creative and intellectual effort. The types of work that are protected by copyright are: literary (song lyrics, manuals, manuscripts, leaflets, computer programs etc.), dramatic (plays, dances etc.),  musical (recordings and score), artistic (photography, sculptures, painting, logos etc.), typographical arrangement of published editions (magazines, periodicals etc.), sound recording (this may just be a recording of other copyright work e.g. musical or literary) and film (video footage, films, broadcasts, and television programmes).
An example of an intellectual property dispute was when Victor Whitmill, Mike Tyson's personal tattoo artist, claimed the use of his design in The Hangover Part II was copyright infringement, and subsequently filed a lawsuit.
Below is the symbol used for copyright.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copyright

Creative commons provide copyright licences that are free and easy to use. They offer a simple way to provide permission to the public to allow them use and also allows them to share your work. Conditions apply to these permissions, all of which are your choice. You can easily change the terms of these licences from the usual "all rights reserved" to "some rights reserved". However, it is important to remember that these Creative Commons licenses are not an alternative option to copyright, they exist alongside copyright and allow you to modify the copyright terms to best suit you.
A further way to source materials for use in the creative media industry is through the Public Domain. Works found in the Public Domain are there for a variety of reasons, these can include the expiration or forfeit of their intellectual property rights or they may have became inapplicable. Examples found in the Public Domain can include the works of Beethoven and Shakespeare and many of the early silent films. Everything found in the Public Domain is freely available for use by anyone.

www.prattlibrary.com

• Official secrets act 1989

This law covers speaking out about state secrets, official information and secrets of the government. An example of where this law is relevant would be on a news show, whether it be broadcast on the television or radio, if the presenter were to talk about matters of national security they must ensure that no vital information is given as this could in serious cases put the country in danger. News presenters will stick to a strict script and schedule which will have already been wrote and vetted to make sure everything included in it is safe, accurate and relevant.
An example of this breach was in 2011 when Guardian revealed the hacking of Milly Dowler's phone. Scotland yard claimed the Official Secrets Act was broken in order for this to be reported.

• Health and Safety Act

The Health and Safety Act is relevant in all places of work, and ensures the safety of all. This enforces all the expected things, such as for fire procedures to be in place, and for anything potentially dangerous such as an exposed/frayed wire in a computer to be dealt with swiftly and safely to ensure no risk or harm. This also expands within industries such as film and TV, where extra procedures such as risk assessments will need to be completed to ensure safety on set.
Anthea Turner was set on fire in 1989 during the filming of a program called UP2U where they were having a pyrotechnic display. This goes to show just how important the Health and Safety Act is as it is in place to protect all.

As well as conforming to legal procedures, it is also important for producers to understand ethical considerations when working within the creative sector. Ethical issues can be a lot harder to adhere to and judge as opposed to legal constraints as there are no real specific guidelines/laws to be followed. Ethical and moral issues are based a lot more on individual opinions and people beliefs than the enforcement of law.

Ethical considerations they will have to adhere to are:

• social issues and sensitivities 

'Social issues and sensitivities' is a very broad term to use, within this is many issues. One of these being the representation of gender within the media industry, particularly within video games. The large majority of character representations featured in video games are very much geared towards males. Many female characters are over sexualised when compared with opposing male characters.

Below is an example of female characters and male characters from the popular game 'Skyrim'. As you can see, the female character is scantily clad yet the male is made to look like a fearsome warrior                                                       

                                                  

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAYQjB0&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwtf-pictures.picphotos.net%2Fskyrim-character-creation-starting-dark-elf-race-overview%2F&ei=sMe3VPjRIdjjaoTRgNAJ&psig=AFQjCNEpLJQtM_q7m1FjQloJ-PB6-yxs1Q&ust=1421416738708099

https://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=i&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=images&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CAYQjB0&url=http%3A%2F%2Fvideogamegeek.com%2Fthread%2F724263%2Fskyrim-character-screenshot-thread&ei=j8i3VKDMKIXcaJjigbgM&psig=AFQjCNEpLJQtM_q7m1FjQloJ-PB6-yxs1Q&ust=1421416738708099

Due to gender representation only being an ethical issue and not a law, this is allowed to happen time and time again. Also, this is not being forced into anybody- it is completely up to the individual if they buy the game or not.
Another issue is the representation of religion. This can cause a lot of problems, as religion, in any form, is something many people hold incredibly close and are very sensitive about. To many, it is a way of life. When the 2014 film 'Noah' was released, is was banned in many countries due to depicting the religious figure Noah, and in the countries where it made it to the cinema quite a few religious groups were outraged at the film. All of this controversy and anger came about due to the film only roughly basing itself on the biblical tale, and existing as a fantasy adventure almost bordering on a psychological horror. In other countries, as seen from them banning the release of the film, depicting a religious story in such a way would be illegal, however in many, including the UK this is only an ethical issue. To try and avoid the controversy, the film only refers to God as the Creator. Quite often in film and TV things like this will be done to try and ensure nobody is offended.
Another ethical social issue is accessibility, producers need to endeavor ensure that anything they produce is accessible by all. This means television shows to be aired with the sign language interpreted in the corner for deaf viewers, magazines to be produced in braille, offices with wheelchair access and so on and so forth. Once again, due to this being an ethical issue and not a legal issue this is not always possible. However, the law does state that 5% of a TV channels time must have sign language, with changes looking to be made.

• not causing harm or offence

Producers have a responsibility to ensure children and young people are protected against unsuitable content whilst still upholding their rights of freedom to receive information and freedom of expression.This goes hand in hand with watershed, where anything considering upsetting to children is shown after 9 when they are unlikely to be watching the TV. It is important that anything broadcast or published is in the taste of the company, for example the types of programs found on channels such as 'Babestation' would be considered very harming and offensive were it shown on the BBC or ITV. An example of this was the 'Sachsgate' scandal where Russell Brand, on his own pre recorded radio show aired on BBC Radio 2, alongside Jonathan Ross, left messages on actor Andrew Sachs' answer phone which were considered by the public to be offensive. There was a massive outrage that this was allowed to be shown, despite being pre recorded so it could of been changed as opposed to if it were a live broadcast. Jonathan Ross was suspended without pay for 12 weeks, Brand and Lesley Douglas (the controller of Radio 2) both resigned. The BBC issued an apology, and described the calls as "a serious breach of editorial standards" and "grossly offensive".

• adhering to the professional body codes of practice 

The BBC follows a strict charter, which outlines the public purposes of the BBC guaranteeing its independence, and also states the duties of the BBC executive board and the BBC trust. The BBC also has Editorial Guidelines.
The broadcasting code, set by Ofcom, is the official rule book for TV and radio stations. Broadcasters need to follow these standards in all of their programmes. The codes aim is to ensure all listeners and viewers are protected from content considered harmful and offensive as long as the audience receives information letting them know this and also as long as the content is editorially justified.  Impartiality and accuracy, sponsorship and product placement, fairness and privacy as well as harm and offence are all covered in the code. When a complaint is made, it is assessed against the code and if the program is found to of broken any rules specified in the code a recording of the breach will be made and Ofcom may be required to make a further decision such as a revoking of a license or a fine, for example in the previously mentioned Sachsgate debacle, the BBC was fined £120,000.