Ethical and legal constraints in the media sector

Video recording act

The video recordings act of the parliament of the United Kingdom that received
Royal Assent on 21 January 2010. The Act repealed and then brought back into
force parts of the Video recordings act 1984 which related to the regulation of
video recordings.
Copyright law
Copyright law is the economic linchpin of the television broadcasting business. In
nearly every country of the world, the domestic law permits the owner of the
copyright in literary or artistic work to prevent that work from being copied,
broadcast or communicated to public by cable. The right owner can than license
other parties to use the work on either an exclusive or a non- exclusive.
Copyright laws are important because they protect certain kinds of original
works. Any creation that is fixed in a recording medium whether paper, compact
disc, film or digital. This comes into play especially with TV due to the fact that
companies want their own identity made by producing their TV shows. The
copyright law protects original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium
of expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived ,
reproduced or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a
machine or device.
Television act
The Television Act was a British law which permitted the creation of the first
commercial television network in the United Kingdom, ITV Until around 1950 the
only TV service in Britain was operated as a monopoly by the BBC, and financed
by the annual television channel, but this was controversial subject the only
other examples of commercial television were to be found in the US and it was
widely considered that the commercial television found there was vulgar
Importance of ethical issues
The kind of issues that affect TV producers are Trust, Impartiality, truth, privacy
and serving the publics interest. The BBC has editorial guidelines which tell its
producers the principles and practices of acting ethically, in detail. The editorial
guidelines set out how producers should deal with issues such as impartiality,
accuracy and privacy.
Representation of gender
TV dramas in particular are always thought to be a female- attracted, especially
for soap operas. However, the same as other types of television programs, TV
dramas represent and reinforce the majoritys ideology of modern western
culture. So in TV genders have different roles for example Female characters are
fewer in number and less central to the plot. Whereas men are usually portrayed
as the main character. Marriage and parenthood are considered more important
to a womans than to a mans life. Women in TV are more passive than male
characters.

Representation of religion
Religion remains a significant aspect of contemporary social, political and
cultural life, and to be an object of media scrutiny. Religions are represented in
TV with documentaries, serial dramas, comedies, soap operas and reality TV.
http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2010/jan/19/religion-mediabbc
British Academy of Film and television Arts
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts or BAFTA is an independent
charity that supports, develops and promotes the art forms of the moving image
by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners and benefiting
the public. http://www.bafta.org/about

Ofcom
Means Television, Radio and Telecommunications Office for Communication.
Ofcom is the communications regulator in the UK. We regulate the TV and radio
sectors, fixed line telecoms, mobiles, postal services, plus the airwaves over
which wireless devices operate. Ofcom operates under a number of Acts of
parliament, including in particular the communications act 2003. Ofcom must act
within the powers and duties set for it by parliament in legislation.
http://www.ofcom.org.uk/

ASA
ASA stands for the advertising standards authority, its the UKs independent
regulator of advertising across all media. We apply the Advertising codes which
are written by the committees of Advertising practice. Their work includes acting
on complaints and proactively checking TV to make they take action against any
misleading, harmful or offensive advertisements.
https://www.asa.org.uk/?gclid=CJS50en_78oCFXEz0wodTPAMug
Regulation Issues

Consumer choice

Each year, the UK public sees many advertisements, direct marketing and
promotions. Although the vast majority agree with the rules set out in the
advertising regulations. The ASA recognises the importance of providing a
service that is accessible to everyone, including people with disabilities.
The consumer choice for BAFTA is also good because their wide variety of events
and ceremonies the customers can decide themselves which events they want to
go to or if they want to go to one. This opens customer choice because they

dont just have one event and do the same every year because then it would not
be benefiting the customer.
Ofcom shows the medias different voices spread across the sector.

https://www.asa.org.uk/Consumers.aspx
http://consumers.ofcom.org.uk/

Freedom of information
Ofcom The freedom of information act 2000. The act establishes a general right
of access to all types of recorded information held by public authorities. It places
a number of obligations on public authorities and sets out exemptions from that
right. The Act applies to Ofcom as Ofcom is a public authority. ASA also has this
so they can have people look through their records but BAFTA do not because
the films produced are independent films

Censorship
Ofcoms broadcasting codes set standards for television and radio shows and
broadcasters must follow its rules. There are strict rules about what can be
shown TV before the 9pm watershed. This because they do not want children of
a young age to be exposed to unpleasant imagery such sex, drugs, bad language
and nudity. ASA also run censorship over adverts as they will pull off an advert of
air if they feel they are not appropriate for day time TV or even TV in whole. All of
this also applies for BAFTA as they do not want a bad reputation for exposing
unpleasant imagery and mannerisms to children.

Taste and decency

For a company like BAFTA taste and decency does not apply as much because
the films being made are mainly independent so its not a huge issue however in
ASA this does not apply because they want a certain standard of advert
produced so that it is acceptable for children. This applies to Ofcom in some
capacity because TV and radio should be up to a reasonable standard however
they also need to have unique qualities which need to be spread to different
target audience for example predominantly will be interested in sports but
women would most likely like Dramas and soups.