Task 5- Legislation and the creative industries

Intellectual property

Intellectual property is any creation someone comes up with such as inventions, pieces of art, logos and business names. It is protected by law so people earn recognition for and receive financial benefit from their creations. 

There are multiple types of intellectual property, including:

• Copyright
• Patents (exclusive rights for inventions)
• Trademarks
• Industrial designs (ornamental or aesthetic aspect of an article)
• Geographical indications (geographical origins of goods)
• Trade secrets (confidential information that can be sold or licensed)

Copyright 

Copyright is the rights creators have over their works, literary or artistic. This includes books. music, paintings, sculptures, films, computer programs, adverts, maps and technical drawings. The creator has a legal right to use their creation as they please and have to give authorisation for others to be able to use it. Copyright protection is automatically received once the work has been created with no payments or contracts needed. Creators can prove a piece of work is their own using the copyright symbol (©) along with their name and the date the work was created. However, copyright can run out with the length of protection depending on the type of work it is. Copyright ownership can be transferred though through inheritance or by selling it.

Trademarks

A trademark is a sign that distinguishes goods or services provided by different enterprises from one another, which is enforced through court orders. It can be obtained through registration by filling out an application for the national/regional trademark office and paying the required fees. It can also be acquired internationally by sending an application in to the trademark office of each country you wish your work to be protected in. Trademark protection typically lasts for 10 years, but can be renewed through a payment of additional fees.

Trademarks can cover: words, phrases, numbers, drawings, symbols, three-dimensional features (e.g. shape and packaging of goods), non-visible signs (e.g. sounds and fragrances) or colour shades.

What are talent releases?

Talent releases are documents which 'talent' fill out to give permission for their likeness to be used in a video/film. These forms must be filled out by everyone appearing in the project (unless they are unidentifiable in the background). The work will only be distributed if copies of these forms can be provided, otherwise lawsuits could be filed and could result in the works not being shown.

Talent: the people who are in a film/video (e.g. actors, models)

The standard fields in these forms include:

• Talent's name
• Talent's age
• Image of the talent
• Name of the production
• Production dates
• Name of the director
• Name of the producer
• Contact details for the talent
• Talent's signature
• Date it was signed

What are location releases?

Location releases are documents which give permission for specific private and public locations to be used in a production. It is a legal requirement to gain permission from the owner of the space, or they could file a lawsuit. 

The standard fields in these forms include:

• Full name of owner
• Owner's contact details
• Description of filming location
• Address of location
• Dates location will be used
• Restrictions set by the owner
• Owner's signature
• Date it was signed

What are the rules about filming and performing in public in the UK?

Before filming in a public place, you should check whether permission from the local council or authority is needed, as they are the one in charge of public lands, buildings, roads and parking. The local police force will need to be notified about the filming if you plan to film on a public highway or use special effects, explosives or firearms. 

How might child labour laws impact the creative industries?

Child labour laws would make the most impact in areas such as TV, film and theatre where child actors may be involved. A performance licence is required if a child is under school-leaving age and is:

• Taking part in a film, play, concert or any kind of public performance that audiences will pay to see
• Involved in any sporting events or modelling assignments in which they are paid

This licence is acquired by the person in charge of the event from the child's local council. Also, the child will require supervision by a parent, tutor or council-approved chaperone.

There are also many general restrictions on child employment that all employers need to be conscious of, such as:

• Children can't work before 7am or after 7pm
• Children can't work for more than 4 hours without taking a break of at least 1 hour
• During term time, children can work a maximum of 12 hours a week

What is public liability insurance?

Public liability insurance covers the cost of legal action and compensation claims made against a company by a third party (e.g. client, customer, member of the public) because of an injury or property damage that happens on the company premises. It doesn't cover any injuries that fall upon the business owner or the employees. 

What is GDPR?

GDPR stands for General Data Protection Regulation, which was implemented in the UK through The Data Protection Act 2018. This means everyone has the right to know what information the government and other organisations store about them. This includes the right to:

• be informed about how your data is being used
• access personal data
• have incorrect data updated
• have data erased
• stop or restrict the processing of your data
• data portability (allowing you to get and reuse your data for different services)
• object to how your data is processed in certain circumstances

Any uses of the data must be lawful, fully explained and completely necessary, and must be handled in a way that keeps the person's data protected. 

Some of this data could include personal details such as: race, ethnic background, religious beliefs, health and sexual orientation. That's why it's so important for people's data to be used only when necessary and all intentions with it must be explicitly stated.

What is The Competition Act 1998 and The Enterprise Act 2002?

The Competition Act 1998 provides a framework for identifying and dealing with restrictive business practices and abuse of a dominant market position. It prevents business owners from:

• Making anti-competitive agreements (e.g. agreeing to sell the same products at the same price as another business)
• Merging with other businesses that substantially lower competition
• Abusing a dominant position in the market (e.g. manipulating customers into only purchasing products from your business out of loyalty)

The Enterprise Act 2002 has a similar purpose as it was put in place to handle mergers and changed the law governing insolvency bankruptcy (not able to pay debts). It also made cartels (a group of similar companies who agree prices between them in order to increase profits and limit competition) illegal with a maximum prison sentence of 5 years.

Websites used:

https://www.wipo.int/about-ip/en/

https://www.wipo.int/copyright/en/

https://www.lexico.com/en/definition/copyright

https://www.gov.uk/copyright

https://www.wipo.int/trademarks/en/

https://academy.wedio.com/talent-release-form/

https://academy.wedio.com/location-release-form/

https://britishfilmcommission.org.uk/guidance/regulations/

https://www.gov.uk/child-employment/performance-licences-for-children

https://www.gov.uk/child-employment/restrictions-on-child-employment

https://www.moneysupermarket.com/business-insurance/public-liability/faqs/

https://www.gov.uk/data-protection

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Competition_Act_1998

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pDoNWPhRlWY

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enterprise_Act_2002

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/cartel