Unit 1 - Fact Sheet - Savannah Maketo-Baines
Legal and Ethical Issues
LEGAL AND ETHICAL CONSTRAINTS
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988
The law gives the creators of literary, dramatic, musical, artistic works, sound recordings,
broadcasts, films and typographical arrangement of published editions, rights to control the
ways in which their material may be used.
The rights cover: broadcast and public performance, copying, adapting, issuing, renting and
lending copies to the public.
This is a CIVIL law not a CRIMINAL law.
This means it is not a criminal offence to break the law, which could result in a fine or jail
sentence.
Instead, the person who owns the copyright has to sue the person they believe has broken
the law. The case is then heard in a civil court and if the person is found guilty of breaking
copyright law then they will have to pay damages to the owner of the copyright. The
amount of damages is set by the court.
Types of work protected
Literary
Song lyrics, manuscripts, manuals, computer programs, commercial documents, leaflets,
newsletters and articles etc.
Dramatic
Plays, dance etc.
Musical
Recordings and score.
Artistic
Photography, painting, sculptures, architecture, technical drawings/diagrams, maps, logos.
Typographical arrangement of published editions
Magazines, periodicals, etc.
Sound recording
May be recordings of other copyright works, e.g. musical and literary.
Film
Video footage, films, broadcasts and cable programmes.
The Copyright (Computer Programs) Regulations 1992 extended the rules covering literary
works to include computer programs.
Duration of copyright
For literary, dramatic, musical or artistic works: 70 years from the end of the calendar year
in which the last remaining author of the work dies.
If the author is unknown, copyright will last for 70 years from end of the calendar year in
which the work was created, although if it is made available to the public during that time,
by publication, authorised performance, broadcast, exhibition etc, then the duration will be
70 years from the end of the year that the work was first made available.
Sound Recordings: 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which the work was
created or, if the work is released within that time, 70 years from the end of the calendar
year in which the work was first released.
Films: 70 years from the end of the calendar year in which the last principal director, author
or composer dies.
If the work is of unknown authorship: 70 years from end of the calendar year of creation, or
if made available to the public in that time, 70 years from the end of the year the film was
first made available.
Typographical arrangement of published editions: 25 years from the end of the calendar
year in which the work was first published.
Broadcasts and cable programmes: 50 years from the end of the calendar year in which the
broadcast was made.
Application: The purpose of this law is to protect the intellectual property of individuals and
requires that permission of the owner of the intellectual property is sought before any use
of it is made. Another purpose of this law is that it gives creators exclusive rights to their
work, including the right to copy, adapt, communicate, lend, or sell it.
The copyright, designs and patents act is a very important law which magazine producers
need to make sure they are following. The producers must ensure that all content is original
meaning even images, titles, contents etc.
This applies to Take a Break magazine as if any other magazine company was to copy their
work or steal an article without permission, they can rightfully claim it back as theirs. As well
as this, if any work or content which they use isn’t theirs, they must give the creator credits
to follow the copyright law.
Equality Act 2010
This law legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in wider society.
It is against the law to discriminate against anyone because of:
⮚ Age
⮚ Being or becoming a transsexual person
⮚ Being married or in a civil partnership
⮚ Being pregnant or on maternity leave
⮚ Disability
⮚ Race including colour, nationality, ethnic or national origin
⮚ Religion/belief or lack of religion/belief
⮚ Sex
⮚ Sexual orientation
This is a CRIMINAL law.
Therefore anyone who is considered to be breaking the law could be arrested. It would
result in a criminal trial which if found guilty could result in a fine or jail sentence.
Application: The main purpose for the equality act 2010 is that it protects people from
harassment, discrimination and victimisation based on certain characteristics. As Well as
that, another purpose is to ensure that people are treated equally, regardless of their
protected characteristics.
This applies to magazine production in general as in images and text, most of the topics they
cover are regarding their audience, and it would not be right at all for them to discriminate,
judge or victimise anybody based on any of their characteristics. What producers can do to
avoid breaking the law of the equality act is they could make sure that everything published
is fair and faithful as offending anybody with content that has been produced can really
damage a publishers reputation.
This applies to Take a Break magazine as their magazines are women's lifestyle genre
meaning in images and text, they report on a lot of different peoples lives, backgrounds etc.
If they were to publically, or even privately discriminate against somebody it could lose the
magazine company a lot of customers, meaning sales will go down ultimately meaning
profits will go straight down.
Intellectual property
What intellectual property is
Having the right type of intellectual property protection helps you to stop people stealing or
copying:
⮚ the names of your products or brands
⮚ your inventions
⮚ the design or look of your products
⮚ things you write, make or produce
Copyright, patents, designs and trademarks are all types of intellectual property protection.
You get some types of protection automatically, others you have to apply for.
You own intellectual property if you:
⮚ created it (and it meets the requirements for copyright, a patent or a design
⮚ bought intellectual property rights from the creator or a previous owner
⮚ have a brand that could be a trade mark e.g. a well known product name
If you believe anyone has stolen or copied your property you would sue them in civil court.
Types of protection
The type of protection you can get depends on what you’ve created. You get some types of
protection automatically, others you have to apply for.
Automatic protection
Protection you have to apply for
Type of protection Examples of intellectual property Time to allow for application
Trade marks Product names, logos, jingles 4 months
Appearance of a product including,
Registered designs shape, packaging, patterns, colours, 1 month
decoration
Inventions and products, eg machines
Patents Around 5 years
and machine parts, tools, medicines
Application: The primary purpose of intellectual property is to encourage creativity by
providing legal protection to creators of original works, allowing them to reap the benefits
of their creations.
Intellectual property applies to magazine production as they should ensure that all things
they publish are original and their own so they do not break this law. It also links to
ensuring their logos are original and they design their house style too.
This applies to Take a Break magazine as a lot of their stories published are quite
interesting, so if any other newspaper or magazine was to take their articles and claim it as
theirs it wouldn't be allowed. If they were to publish somebody else's article it would be
breaking this law.
Obscene Publications Act 1959
For the purposes of this Act an article shall be deemed to be obscene if its effect or (where
the article comprises two or more distinct items) the effect of any one of its items is, if taken
as a whole, such as to tend to deprave and corrupt persons who are likely, having regard to
all relevant circumstances, to read, see or hear the matter contained or embodied in it.
In this Act ‘article’ means any description of an article containing or embodying matter to be
read or looked at or both, any sound record and any film or other record of a picture or
pictures.
This is a criminal law.
Application: The purpose of the obscene publications act is to criminalise the publishing and
distribution of obscene material. This means materials seen as sexually made and even
morally offensive. Because of this act, it is now a highly punishable offense. The act defines
obscene material as that which is likely to “deprave and corrupt” the intended audience
when taken as a whole.
In magazine production in general, producers must be careful in the way they word things
and also portray things. This is because if it is deemed as offensive or material which could
corrupt the audience, they will be breaking this law.
This applies to Take a Break magazine as magazines must comply with laws regarding
publishing obscene or indecent materials. Most content in Take a Break magazines are
about people, either what they have done or something they are involved in, and if it is
represented in a bad way or presented in a way to influence people to do bad things, they
are breaking the law so this relates to their images and text. Take a Break must not publish
anything that would be so obscene and they would avoid this by censoring images.
Trespass
This is a civil law.
Trespass to land consists of any unjustifiable intrusion by a person upon the land in
possession of another.
Civil trespass is actionable in the courts.
Application: The purpose of the trespass law is to criminalize and charge anybody which
enters somebody else's property without permission to be there. Another purpose is to
safeguard property owners from unauthorized entry onto their land, ensuring their privacy
and control over their property.
Magazine producers in general must not trespass under any circumstances as it can cause
them to get sued for breaking the trespass law.
This applies to Take a break magazine as under no circumstances can anybody enter their
property without permission. Take a Break does not actually need to access anybody's
property as people write their own stories and send them in, the same with their own
photos.
Privacy
The introduction of the Human Rights Act 1998 incorporated into English law the European
Convention on Human Rights.
Article 8.1 of the ECHR provides an explicit right to respect for a private life:
Article 8 protects your right to respect for your private life, your family life, your home and
your correspondence (letters, telephone calls and emails, for example).
Privacy Law is a law which deals with the use of people’s personal information and making
sure they aren't intruded upon. These laws make sure people can't have their information
wrongly used without permission.
The effect this has on radio:
This means that they can't tell the listeners people’s full names or any private details they
don't want revealed. For example if a viewer calls in but they don't want their name to be
revealed then they can't say it.
The effect this has on television:
This is also basically the same as radio, they can't use people’s full names without their
consent. This also means that if they take footage of someone they need to get that
person’s permission before they air it on television.
Anyone who believes their right has been broken can make a civil claim in the courts against
those they believe have invaded their privacy.
When applying the legal principles the court will balance the claimant's right to privacy
against the right to freedom of expression.
If the claimant is proved to be correct this could result in an injunction banning publication
of information; damages; and return or destruction of the material gained from the
intrusion.
Application: The purpose of the privacy law is to protect personal information and also give
individuals control over how it's used. This law is majorly designed to protect individuals
from having their personal information misused, exploited or mishandled.
Magazine producers must ensure that they under no circumstances in images and text share
anybody's personal information, they cannot intrude to get information or anything like that
as they could land in major legal issues. Magazine producers have to be very careful when it
comes to privacy laws. Something which they could do is not overshare/ go into too much
detail when writing stories in text about people. They must ensure that they do not publish
private details like contact details, home addresses etc.
This applies to Take a Break magazine as magazines must respect individuals’ privacy rights
when publishing in images and text personal information, and may need to obtain consent
before sharing details about someone’s life and that is exactly what Take a break need to
make sure they are on top of as they mostly just publish people's life stories, with all sorts of
detail.
Defamation Act 2013
This Act reformed defamation law on issues of the right to freedom of expression and the
protection of reputation. It also comprised a response to perceptions that the law as it stood
was giving rise to libel tourism and other inappropriate claims.
The Act changed existing criteria for a successful claim, by requiring claimants to show
actual or probable serious harm (which, in the case of for-profit bodies, is restricted to
serious financial loss), before suing for defamation in England or Wales.
It also enhanced existing defences, by introducing a defence for website operators hosting
user-generated content (provided they comply with a procedure to enable the complainant
to resolve disputes directly with the author of the material concerned or otherwise remove
it), and introducing new statutory defences of truth, honest opinion, and "publication on a
matter of public interest“.
LIBEL
A written, published false statement that is damaging to a person's reputation.
SLANDER
Making a false spoken statement damaging to a person's reputation.
Defamation is a civil law and so you would need to sue someone who you believe has
damaged your reputation.
Application: The purpose of the defamation act is to balance the right of freedom of speech
with completely protecting a person's reputation.
This applies to magazine production in general as magazines like to label people as things
using big words, and if a person was to take offense from this or if the magazine was to
make somebody out as something they are not, they would be breaking the law of slander.
This applies to Take a Break magazine as publishing false or defamatory statements about
individuals can lead to legal action being taken against, and Take a Break magazine focuses
on articles interesting to the audience due to them being about people's real life incidents
and problems. Take a Break must ensure accuracy when creating articles and stories
otherwise they could land themselves in very big trouble.
Ethical Constraints
Ethical issues link to what is morally correct and incorrect. They are not a legal issue
although some ethical issues have links to some regular laws. It is what society as a whole
considers to be acceptable or not. There are quite a couple damaging consequences of
crossing ethical issues with a couple of them being: the audience could take great offense,
the audience could complain to regulatory bodies such as IPSO and ASA, there could
become a major judgement against the magazine and give them a bad reputation and the
magazine could lose their audience therefore losing income and revenue.
Protect the under 18
This ethical issue is in place to ensure that no content published involves anything
inappropriate for everybody under the age of 18. An example of this inappropriacy involves
things such as nudity, extreme graphic violence, sexual content and obscene language. They
must avoid crossing ethical lines in magazine photos and text too by not producing any
material like that. This ethical issue impacts magazine production as it makes producing
articles a lot harder as the magazine companies need to ensure everything published is
appropriate and welcome for all ages. Protecting the under 18s relates to Take a Break
magazine because this magazine involved real life stories, the latest health etc and those
sorts of topics usually involve content which isn't appropriate for under 18s. If one of these
stories involved somebody under 18, Take a Break would have to take even more
precautions to protect them, their identity and everything about them.
Representation
Representation is an ethical issue that relates to how people, places and content are
represented. In the media, nothing is real. Everything’s a construction that represents reality
talking about people, individuals and social groups. This is an ethical issue as if social groups
are represented in a negative way, it could cause major offense or harm to those reading.
Representation can be portrayed in many different ways such as age, sexuality, ethnicity,
religion etc. Stereotypes are also a part of representations and it is a specific type of
representation. Certain representations are reduced to a few defining characteristics that
are more than likely negative. People tend to create these stereotypes often to create
humour or communicate quickly with other people when in reality it is usually offensive.
Media products such as magazines avoid at their best reinforcing negative stereotypes as so
much backlash comes with it. Representations impact magazine production quite highly due
to the fact that if a wrongdoing has been made regarding stereotypes or representations, it
could affect so many people and a lot of the time when these are made, they aren't even
intended to come out that way. Representation in images and in text is something magazine
producers really need to be careful of, especially Take a Break as they have a huge audience-
as it is the number one’s most popular women's weekly magazine in the UK. Having
hundreds of thousands of people all over the country reading every week, they have a very
massive influence on readers, meaning if a stereotype or representation was made and
published, many people would either believe it and start acting upon the allegation or it
could seriously offend everybody losing Take a Break customers.
Production methods
Production methods in magazines is an ethical issue as all methods during production need
to be morally and ethically correct. This includes whilst producing, nothing unethical can be
done such as hidden microphones to get audio without permission, interviewing people
which have no clue on the topic etc. This impacts magazine production as they must ensure
under no circumstances that they do anything unethical and everything which they gather
for images, articles and headlines is fully truthful and not gathered unethically. This applies
to Take a Break magazine as most of their content is stories from viewers, with their
witnesses adding comments and things which they know. It would really be unethical for
unfairness to be happening when gathering information to be published.
Content
Contents can be an ethical issue as much false information could be spread. Producers
before sending their final version to be published have to ensure all content is appropriate
for people to read and it also does not promote any negative ideas or behaviour. By
producers having to go through and check everything which is going to go into the
magazine, it impacts the magazine production in general as it would be extremely
inconsiderate not to ensure all content ranging from images and text is correct, ethical,
accurate and not offensive to anybody. This applies to Take a Break magazine since most of
their content is quite sensitive as in family issues, abuse, people being imprisoned due to
horrible crimes, and they just need to make sure everything in the magazines are good
enough to be published otherwise many problems can come up. They must not condone
negative behaviour or reinforce negative ideas.
