M2: Legal and Ethical Requirements For the Repurposed Content

For this unit, I am required to create my own personal media profile. My plan is to create a digital media profile. I am going to create my own portfolio website to showcase my media work. This will hopefully allow companies/potential employers to see my work and contact me in regards to a job or freelance work. First, I need to research legal and ethical issues that I need to prevent/avoid to ensure my website follows the law and is not offensive to employers or students who may see my website.

 

Legal Issues- Libel and Slander

Libel is a false written statement that is damaging to someone's reputation. Slander is the spoken form of this. If someone is libel or slander, they are commiting a crime, this is defamation and can have serious effects on someone's life. Therefore, the perpetrator can be taken to court and sued for their damages. I have not said or written anything libel or slander in my media work and I will continue not to on my website.

 

 

 

 Copyright

 Copyright is a law (dating back to 1988) that protects an artist's work. Books, artwork, graphics, songs are just a few examples of the media forms protected by this form. This law stops others from copying or using their work without their permission. If someone does use their work without the owner's permission, this is copyright infringement and against the law, the artist can file for a copyright infringement court case. This can result in a fine or even imprisonment.

 

If an artist doesn't want full ownership of their work, they can use Creative Commons licenses. This means that people can use the assets under certain conditions put in place by the license the artist chooses. These can range from non-commercial (not allowed to make money from the product) to attribution (allowing the material to be changed and used as long sas you credit the original creator). If I use creative commons material, I will have to be careful and follow the rules or there are legal consequences. Royalty free assets allow anyone to use the material however they would like, even commerically. This isn't as common however.

 

While creating my past media projects, I have followed these copyright laws to ensure I can promote my work. For example, I have used royalty free music for the short film and our radio show. I have used creative commons or royalty free graphics in my work if necessary, but I usually create my graphics myself.

 

 

 

 

Since I have created lots of different media products, I will need to make sure they all follow the laws put in place by the corresponding regulatory bodies.

 

Ofcom

Ofcom (Office of Communication) regulate radio, TV, video on demand and mobile content services. They ensure that minors (those under 18) are protected and there is no invasion of privacy. If you break any of the laws put in place by Ofcom, they can do one or several of the following things: take your license off you (in the case of radio), fine you or even put you in prison. Ofcom also regulate social media and websites so I will need to make sure I follow their rules on these platforms too and make sure my website holds up to their standards.

Our DonCast Films radio show is targeted towards families. We do not use any language or talk about anything inappropriate in our show. This would mean that our radio show would be before the 9pm watershed. Any media that includes more adult content is usually found after the 9pm watershed so Ofcom can protect minors especially since they are more likely asleep at this time. I have followed the rules put in place by Ofcom for all of my work. 

BBFC

 

British Board of Film Classification are responsible for assigning age ratings to movies and TV shows. These ratings are used by cinemas to ensure that the movie is suitable for that audience. These age ratings can also be seen on DVDs and streaming services so parents and people watching movies or TV shows at home understand the content in the media. BBFC's job is to protect children from viewing potentially harmful or graphic things that may negatively influence or scare them.

We rated our Newspaper Short film suitable for age 12 and above. We decided to choose this specific age rating since some scenes are violent, illude to murder and there are a few swear words. We have followed the rules in place for a 12 age rating: Moderate violence with little detail and moderate language. You can see the rules in detail here: https://www.bbfc.co.uk/rating/12

ASA

 Advertising Standards Agency are responsible for regulating all adverts. TV channels, social media, radio are just a few examples of where you can consume advertisements. The purpose of the ASA is to prevent advertisements from being misleading, offensive or inappropriate for the viewers. In partnership with Ofcom, they ensure that minors are safe. They also make sure that people can tell the difference between media they are consuming and an advert. An example of this would be ensuring that kids don't see gambling adverts and if they do, they are not going to be influenced by them. Ofcom help with this by implimenting the 9pm watershed which means adult content and adverts are only allowed some time after 9pm.

My club Europe animation is technically an advertisement since it is promoting the company. I targeted my animation towards children and teenagers still in education (minors) so I would need to make sure that the content I use isn't harmful to them and I am giving them the correct instructions of how to pack for their Club Europe tour holiday.

For my Effervescent canned drink advertisement campaign, I was asked to target 16-25 year olds. I didn't mislead my target audience about my drink and I ensured that my advertisements were also suitable for younger viewers to see. I used bright colours and fun fonts to convey the feel my drink will give the audience

Ethical issues

Globalisation has made it possible for everyone across the globe to communicate. This means that companies must be more sensible than ever with their products as not to harm or offend others. Here are some ethical issues that the media must be aware of when advertising or creating new products: Using lots of language, promting violence, self harm and drugs, promoting negative body image is a huge ethical issue with the rise of social media, they cannot discriminate against someone's gender, race or identity etc. 

My media products and adverts are ethical and sincere, they are not discrimitory or offensive in any way. Therefore, I will not need to worry about this. I will need to make sure I continue being ethical for my website.