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Contractual,  Limitations & Obligations in Film and Television Industries. 
Legal and  Introduction. 

Ethical  Within this written report, I will be discussing contractual, legal and 
ethical obligations considering the way they are used and regulated in 
the film and television production industry. By focusing on both the film 
Obligations  industry (mostly centring in on Hollywood films) and the television 
production companies within the United Kingdom, I concluded that they 
in Film & Television.  both compliment each other in the way they handle their obligations. 
 
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Contractual Agreements. 
Written By Kyra Wright.  There are specific film contracts and agreements that protect the rights 
of a film production which are necessary when avoiding 
miscommunication and encountering risk at every stage from 
pre-production to distribution to an audience. Contractual agreements 
need to be set in place with a production team, cast and crew before 
principal photography begins in the pre-production stages. An 
agreement as such between the releasor and the recipient in the film 
industry to disclose a Non-Disclosure Agreement which agrees that 
neither party involved will disclose any information about the story that 
is being worked on at the time. If the project moves forward, then the 
film or television show can be given a 'codename' which hides any 
indication of the plot or well-known project from audiences. For 
example, ​Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi​ was known as “Blue 
Harvest” and ​The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring​ was known as 
“Changing Seasons.” 
 
There are many forms of contractual agreements that can be disclosed, 
the following list references elucidated examples of the way contracting 
can be used in order to certify the film crew's agreement to the recipient. 
Contractual agreements such as actor contracts, film finder agreements, 
film non-disclosure agreements and the screenplay option agreement 
allow for an industry to fit into legal protection. Every film or television 
production must have some form of contractual obligation, this is needed 
and required when on set when it comes to hiring people and scouting for 
locations. 
 

Legal Observations. 
Before filming on location in the United Kingdom specifically, a 
filmmaker and their crew will make sure that it's legal to do so. When 
consulting with extended researched information about the legal 
obligations required to consider, I found that there were a few different 
sections of legal observations; filming people, filming buildings and 
architecture (such as iconic structures), media insurance and child 
performance licence.  
 
Filming People: ​There is no 'image right', per se, but before shooting the 
film, the director and crew must get consent directly from the people 
appearing on camera. Privacy, data protection, defamation and the 
addition of the Ofcom code are four of the most important additions 
when considering filming people. According to the European Convention 
on Human Rights and the Human Rights Act of 1998, the act is to give 
further effect to rights and freedoms guaranteed under the European 
Convention of Human Rights; to make provision with respect to holders 
of certain judicial offices who become judges of the European Court of 
Human Rights; and for connected purposes. A different threshold applies 
to a politician or other public figure than to a person who does not work 
in the public eye. A much higher threshold applies to children so that it 
will rarely be appropriate to publish any image of a child without the 
consent of the child and/or its parents. Depending on the way a person is 
depicted in the film one is shooting, will depend on the reputation that 
the film gives the person depicted. If the statement is true, defamation 
can be avoided, but filmmakers should ensure that they produce 
information of fact which is applicable to the person - or if the 
information given is not factual, they must gain consent before using it. 
 
Filming Buildings: ​Consent is required from the landlord. Many lands for 
shooting are commonly private, some pieces of land are made open for 
the public so shooting on these lands requires no legal observation. If you 
want to film inside a building, you will need to get permission from the 
building owners. The exception under section 62 doesn’t mean one can 
freely enter onto private land to photograph and record buildings. When 
seeking this consent from landlords, one may insert a number of 
contractual restrictions on what you can and cannot do with images of 
the building. If the architect of the building has been dead for over 70 
years, it is not an infringement of copyright to recreate it. If recreating 
the interior of a building, you are likely to need to enter onto the 
property in order to take photos and make sketches. Logos, designs and 
artwork visible on the building at hand will need to give consent if they 
are to be used. Because many monuments are situated in public areas, 
there is an exception granted under section 62 of the Copyright, Designs 
and Patents Act 1988 which states: “Representation of certain artistic 
works on public display. This section applies to buildings, and sculptures, 
models for buildings and works of artistic craftsmanship, if permanently 
situated in a public place or in premises open to the public. The copyright 
in such a work is not infringed by making a graphic work representing it, 
making a photograph or film of it, or [making a broadcast of] a visual 
image of it. Nor is the copyright infringed by the issue to the public of 
copies, or the [communication to the public], of anything whose making 
was, by virtue of this section, not an infringement of the copyright.” 
Therefore suggesting that restrictions may be imposed despite section 
62 if the copyright on the building has expired. 
 
Media Insurance: ​Media insurance “covers the cost of claims made 
against your business by a client or a member of the public, should your 
work have resulted in injury or property damage. Public liability cover 
protects against the compensation payouts and legal costs.” Typically, to 
cover the cost of these claims, a filmmaker would need a minimum of £2 
million to cover street filming alone, this can sometimes amount up to £5 
million. If you’re a student and the project you are creating is a part of 
your course you will need to get confirmation from your college to film in 
certain areas. If you are not a UK-based filmmaker, you might have to 
gain insurance through a broker in your native country which will have to 
be translated into English to get permission. Non-UK policies will not be 
accepted in all locations, so the location chosen must be studied closely. 
 
Child Performance Licencing: ​If your film requires children of 
compulsory education level then it is important that you check whether 
or not the actor at hand requires a licence which is issued by the 
Education Welfare department nearest to the child’s residency. The 
Children Performance Regulations issued in 1968 requires a licenced 
applicant to give 21 days notice in regards to when the company will 
require the actor. 
 

Ethics in the Industry. 


 
Codes Of Practice: ​How employees must act. “Though it is not legally 
binding, the purpose is to stop employees behaving in unethical ways, 
ensuring the creator of a piece of content behaves according to ethical 
standards.” Due to this commissioning, the BBC ensures that the 
relationship with their employees is strong and trusting. 
 
Policies and​ ​Procedures:​ “TV and film companies will also have a number 
of policies and procedures in place to maintain and encourage ethical 
practice. These can relate to business conduct, recruitment, employment 
and records management. They are often informed by legislation such as 
health and safety and equal opportunities laws.” Policies and procedures 
are essential to companies, like the BBC, to avoid legal action and give 
them a good reputation. They have a policy that safeguards children that 
work within their programmes which correlates with the watershed 
policy and the matters, issues and images that are not allowed to air on 
certain channels before 9pm. 
 
Social Concerns: ​Ethical policies may branch out to reaching social issues 
concerning people with disabilities, exploitation of children and gang life. 
Specifically, the broadcasting of the Paralympics has to be commissioned 
on a range of programmes to be broadcast centering around the lives of 
disabled people. There have been several documentaries that discuss 
many social issues which have stemmed from these issues tackled. 
 
Representation:​ Similar to the social concerns addressed above, 
broadcasters will consider the representation of social groupings in the 
programmes they choose to air. More recently, the shows on Channel 4, 
My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding​ and ​The Undateables​ represent people with 
disabilities and people of a different lifestyle than many as 
entertainment. This is also concerned where Hollywood stands in 
Transformers 2​ where Michael Bay was criticised for producing racist 
caricatures for the robots in his film as they "sounded black." This also 
occurred when addressing ​Avatar a ​ nd the fact that it came under fire for 
casting African and Native Americans as aliens in the film. 

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