Acts within the media industry

1. Acts within the media industry.
By Oliver Kaplan

2. Race Relations Act 1976
This Act outlawed discrimination on the “grounds of colour, race, or ethnic or national
origins” in pubic places.

3. 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 it is published or broadcast. The 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.

4. 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.

5. 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 for use.

6. 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 persons reputation,
exposes a person to public hatred, contempt or ridicule, or injuries a person in his/her
business or profession.

7. Official Secrets Act 1989
It is a criminal offence to obtain or publish and 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 defence.

8. Communications Act 2003
Section 127 makes it a criminal offence if 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.

9. 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
typographical 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.

10. Protection of Children Act 1978
It is a criminal offence to take or show an indecent photograph (which includes filming
or television) of a minor under the age of 18 and even to involve a minor in a
photograph or television image that is itself indecent, even where the child’s role is not
central. To broadcast an image where a child’s picture had been superimposed onto
pornographic image would be an offence. This also means that in drama, any
characters that are required to be filmed in scenes of an explicit sexual nature must be
at least 18, regardless of the age of the character they are playing.

11. Human Rights Act 1998
An Act which sets out the fundamental rights and freedoms that everyone in the UK is
entitled to. It means that you can defend your rights in the UK courts and that public
organisations (including the Government, the Police and local councils) must treat
everyone equally, with fairness, dignity and respect.

12. Video Recordings Act 1984
It states that commercial video recordings offered for sale of 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 classification cannot, under the
Act, be legally sold or supplied to anyone of any age unless it is educational, or to do
with a sport, religion or music and does not depict violence, sex or incite a criminal
offence.