Understanding The Ethical and Legal Considerations When Working In The Creative Media Sector

Understanding The Ethical and Legal Considerations When Working In The Creative Media Sector

Outline

When in Media, there are many considerations to take in, there are rules, guidelines and barriers that you should not cross, depending on your field. There are many kinds of laws in place, that make sure that certain things are not caused or said as well. Ethics are similar to this, but are not written by law, rather, they're agreed with by the public and only cause issues if crossed. 

Laws

Are written, approved and enforced by a particular government. If you break a law you could face police investigation, court appearance and fine. Such laws that are linked with ethics are mentioned below, including Privacy Laws, Copyright and Intellectual Property Law, and Libel Law.

Ethics

Rules of conducts, responsibility (not the law). If you break an ethical code you may be forced to act with ethical disproval from your peers or professional body. There are issues of entertainment media, and some of these include: violent and sexual depiction, strong language, product placement, taboos and stereotypes.

Legal Constraints

Legislation that controls the creative media sector - Covered by law

They control the media sector and if you do not follow these laws, you will soon be fined and investigated by the local authorities and the police. 

Ethical Constraints

Working within accepted norms of society - What is right or wrong way to behave - Covered by self regulating industry controls.

Privacy Law

The law that is a regulation that protects a persons right to be left alone. Giving people their own space and making sure that things are kept hidden that don't need to be published. People are allowed to lead their lives without public scrutiny. 

'The right to privacy' and the 'right to be left alone' - 'harassment and data protection'.

Data Protection Act - Data can be kept private unless asked to be shared and permission is granted, e.g, the News of the World phone hacking scandal.

Example - Sony CD Spyware - Sony BMG ran into a major privacy flap in Autumn 2005 because of a certain Anti-Virus software that they added to their music CDs called 'XCP'. When played on a Windows PC, the CD installed a hidden rootkit software onto the PC, this then communicated with the CD which was being played, and told the IP of the address of the PC back to Sony.

It also had other issues, such as creating vulnerabilities for worms and/or viruses to exploit on PCs. This was quickly picked upon and critics bashed this concept, proving it to be unhelpful and this led Sony to making a free CD with removal kits for the software. Sony also recalled all of the CDs and their contents, thus they retrieved their mistake, lawsuits were filed against Sony in three places, Texas, New York and California. Sony were soon required to pay $150 to any consumer whose PC was damaged by this software, as punishment for Sony violating this law.

Copyright and Intellectual Property Law

The law that your media may only be seen in particular ways, that your films has certain licensing and trademarks, meaning that you have the rights of the product. 

Something that is unique to you if physically created. i.e an idea is not your intellectual property but the words you write are.

Copyright is a type of intellectual law that protects your work.

By knowing your rights and having the right type of protection you can stop people from stealing or copying: The names of your products or brands, your inventions, the design or look of your products and the things you write, make or product. E.g Hangover Part 2 'Tattoo'/Avatar and William Roger Dean.

Example - Lucasfilm Ltd. v. High Frontier and Lucasfilm v. Committee for a Strong, Peaceful America

When politicians, journalists and scientists, in the mid-1980s, nicknamed the Reagan administration’s Strategic Defensive Initiative (SDI), the “star wars” program, George Lucas’s production company was miffed. It did not want the public’s positive associations with the term to be marred by the controversial plan to place anti-missile weapons in space.

In 1985, Lucasfilm Ltd. filed a lawsuit against High Frontier and the Committee for a Strong, Peaceful America—two public interest groups that referred to SDI as “star wars” in television messages and literature. 

Though Lucasfilm Ltd. had a trademark for Star Wars, the federal district court ruled in favor of the interest groups and their legal right to the phrasing so long as they didn’t attach it to a product or service for sale. “Since Jonathan Swift’s time, creators of fictional worlds have seen their vocabulary for fantasy appropriated to describe reality,” read the court decision.

Obscene Publications Act 1959

"An act to amend the law relating tot he publication of obscene matter; to provide for the protection of literature; and to strengthen the law concerning pornography". - Taken from https://www.iwf.org.uk/hotline/the-laws/criminally-obscene-adult-content/obscene-publications-act-1959-and-1964

This act (published in 1959), is an act which enforces that it is an offence to publish, even if you gain something, or nothing at all, any content that can cause deprivation or corruption for those who view or read the publication.

This not only applies to sexual content and explicit sexual scenes in, for example, TV, but it also applies to violent behavior, violent actions and drug taking\manipulation.

An example of a product that was once banned due to its content was none other than the infamous film: A Clockwork Orange. A crime film which was produced and directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on the 1962 novel of the same name. It contained violent images, gangs, political, social and economic subjects in a near-future Britain. The main character was a twisted, sociopath who enjoyed classic music, rape and violence.

Banned in Britain - It was uncut in cinemas in December 1971 in Britain, the film was deemed too extreme with its sexual violence. What didn't help was in a trial of manslaughter, the prosecutor mentioned the film, claiming that it had relevance to the case.

The film was linked to another case, a murder caused by a sixteen year old who pleaded guilty after his friends had told him of the film. After viewing it, they even quoted the film by saying "The beating up of an old boy like this one", the eerie fact is that the murder was on an elderly vagrant.

"Whatever the reason for the withdrawal, it was difficult to see A Clockwork Orange in the United Kingdom for 27 years. It was only after Kubrick's death in 1999 that the film reappeared in cinemas and was released on VHS and DVD." - Wikipedia.

Official Secrets Act 1989

An act that is of the Parliment of the United Kingdom, it replaces the previously applied Official Secrets Act 1911. More specifically, it replaced section 2 of the previous act, where it was an offence to disclose any information that was official, without any authority under the law.

The updated 1989 act changed things, sot hat it is an offence to disclose information only in relation to six specified categories. Also if the information in questions is to be disclosed, and is damaging to the national interest, then it is also an offence. Official information in this case, is any form of information which a government contractor or a crown servant has or has had in their possession.

Libel Law

To publish in print something which is not true or may harm that persons reputation and may bring hate or scorn towards them.

It must be a statement which claims to be a fact and is not clearly identified as an opinion.

Example - Kiera Knightley - The Daily Mail published accusations that Knightley had an eating disorder and had been responsible for the death of a young lady with anorexia. The actress went to court and was awarded several thousand dollars which she handed over to a charity.