Legal restraints of film making
There are many legal restraints that filmmakers have to comply with, having done research into different laws I found that these were the most significant ones that have had the biggest effect on the way that filmmakers can work.
Video recordings act (1984)
"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"
In other words, this is the reason age certificates are on DVD’s and on the beginning of trailers there usually is a green screen as shown below stating that the preview has been approved for all audiences.
Videos can be exempt from this if they are intended for educational, informative or instructive purposes, if it depicts sport, religion or music, or if it is a video game. However, even if it falls into this category, it would still need a classification if it contains any of the following:
Human Sexual Activity
Mutilation/Violence towards humans and animals
Human genital organs or human urinary/excretion
As my documentary will fall under the intended for educational purposes and I very much doubt it will contain any of the above three exceptions, it will not have to carry an age classification.
The Official Secrets Act (1989)
This law was first passed in 1911 and then revised in 1989. This law restricts the media from publishing official secrets/information mainly applying to National security. This applies to both newspapers and films. IN the revised 1989 version, publishing official business became within the limits of the law.
In the context of documentary making, an example could be not being allowed to show images of Army/Navy/RAF basis as if this was seen by a terrorist group; it would make an attack very easy.
In the context of documentary making, an example could be not being allowed to show images of Army/Navy/RAF basis as if this was seen by a terrorist group; it would make an attack very easy.
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act (1988)
This law is in place so that people who create substantial work that comes under “literary, dramatic, musical, artistic works, sound recordings, broadcasts, films and typographical arrangement of published editions” have the right to control the way that the work is used. These right cover Public Performance, renting, copying, adapting and even lending.
It varies depending on what the material is, but in the context of film, the copyright expires 70 years after the end of the year of year of the death of the principle author of the dialog, the director and the composer of the music for the film.
In terms of practical application for my A2 Media production, this means that I will have to ensure that I do not use any copyrighted material, including any clips of footage or background music in my production in order to avoid committing fraud/plagiarism.
