The document summarizes several key laws and acts relevant to the UK media sector, including: 1) The Protection of Children Act 1978, Human Rights Act 1998, and Video Recordings Act 1984 which regulate the use of children in media and classify content by age. 2) The Race Relations Act 1976, Obscene Publications Act 1959, and Communications Act 2003 which prohibit obscenity, discrimination, and offensive/threatening communications. 3) The Official Secrets Act 1989, Privacy law, Libel Law, and Copyright law which protect national secrets, personal privacy, reputations, and intellectual property rights.

1. Laws and Acts in the Media
sector

2. Protection of Children Act 1978
It is a criminal offence to take or show an indecent
photograph of a minor under the age of 18 and even to
involve a minon in a photograph or television image that
itself is indecent. To broadcast a superimposed childs
image onto an indecent image would also be an offence.
How is this relevant to the media sector?
It protects children form being used in obscene films or
films that require them to be indecent. This law also
protects children from distributing and purchasing
content that is specified for ages over 18.

3. Human Rights Act 1998
An act which sets out the findamental rights and
freedoms that everyone in the UK is entitled to. It
means that you can defend your rights in the and
that UK courts and public organisations mus treat
everyone equally with fairness, dignity and respect.
Why is this relevant to the media sector?
This is relevant because this the UK standard of law
that everyone must abide by to treat everybody
equal

4. Video Recordings Act 1984
It states that commercial video recordings offered for sale or for hire
within the UK must carry a classification that has been agreed upon by
an authority designated by the home office. Works must be classified
by the BBFC under an age-rated system, it is an offence under the act
to supply video works to individuals who are under the age of the
classification designated. Works that are refused by the BBFC, under
this act cannot be legally sold or supplied to anyone of age unless it is
educational, sporty, religion or music and does not depict violence, sex
or incite a criminal offence.
Why is this relevant to the Media Sector
This is law protects the people who can view the content. It means
that commercial video recordings must be classified by the BBFC’s age
system, and this act protects people younger than the age range
specified from viewing the content.

5. Race Relations Act 1976
The act outlawed discrimination on the “grounds of colour,
race, or national origins” in public places.
Why is this relevant to the Media Sector
This protects against any discrimination during any of the
stages any of the media sectors. For example during a film
production; this law protects people from being discriminated
against. However sometimes this act does not carry across if
Racial slurs are used in context of the content being racist and
that the BBFC allow the content to be viewed. An example of
this is Django which features a heavily prejudiced and
patriarchal society in America

6. Obscene Publications Act 1959
This law applies to television and film and covers material
which is obscene, whether it is in a person’s possession or
its published to broadcast. This definition of obscene is
“Likely to deprave and corrupt” the audience for which it
is intended and includes not only sexually explicit
material but material relating to violence and drug taking.
Why is this relevant to the media sector
This is relevant to the media sector because it means that
any disturbing or obscene content is either capped at a
certain severity of obscene or is completely banned.

7. Licensing Act 2003
An Act to make provision about the regulation of
the sale and supply of alcohol, the provision of
entertainment and the provision of late night
refreshment, about offences relating to alcohol
and for connected purposes.
Why is this relevant to the Media Sector?
This is relevant as it prohibits and bans alcohol
consumption on broadcasts or productions

8. Privacy law
Refers to the laws that deal with the regulation
of personal information about individuals, which
can be collected by governments and other
public as well as private organisations and its
storage and use.
Why is this relevant to the Media Sector
This is relevant because it protects the private
and disclosed information about people who are
involved with a media production.

9. Libel Law
It is a method of defamation expressed by print, writing,
pictures, signs, effigies, or any communication embodied
in physical form that is injurious to a person’s reputation,
exposes a person to public hatred, contempt or ridicule,
or injures a person in his/her business or profession
Why is this relevant to the Media Sector
This law protects harmful or otherwise offensive material
from surfacing. This means that any derogatory content
that may feature either to an individual or a collective
group of people is banned from being made available to
the public

10. Official Secrets Act 1989
It is a criminal offence to obtain or publish any
information from a serving or former member of
the security and intelligence services or from
certain categories of civil servants or public
contractors where that disclosure would be
damaging. There is no public interest defense.
Why is this relevant to the Media Sector
This act is relevant so that any national or secret
information from an intelligence service is being
made public as this would be damaging if any state
or national secretsare broadcasted

11. Communications Act 2003
Section 127 makes it a criminal offence is a person sends or causes to
be sent, by means of a public electronic communications network, a
message or otherwise that is “grossly offensive” or of an indecent or
obscene or menacing character”. The director of Public Prosecutions is
to issue guidelines on when criminal charges should be brought against
people posting abusive comments on social media networks.
Why is this relevant to the Media Sector?
Prohibits people especially those in the public eye from putting
offensive or derogatory comments on Social Media. For example
people who are on BBC productions must be very careful what they
post on social media as they are funded by the TV license that
everyone in the UK pays in to. Therefore content made by the BBC
must be for everyone and not to offend anyone

12. Copyright and Intellectual property
law
A law which applies to work that is recorded in some way;
rights exist in items such as literary, artistic, musical and
dramatic work as well as films, sound recordings, and
typograpical arrangements. It gives the author specific rights
in relation to the work, prohibits unauthorised actions, and
allows the author to take legal action against instances of
infringement or plagiarism
Why is this relevant to the media sector?
This is relevant because it protects content from being copied
or re created without the person who owns the story rights
permission or their rights bought. For example if a movie
studio who don’t own marvel make a marvel movie with the
same story, characters etc then they are infringing copyright
because they are creating a film which was not their property