Legal & Ethical Considerations, Codes of Practice and

Regulations
Copyright and patents act

The copyright and patents act was founded in 1988 and was created for two main reasons
one being people are credited for the work for their context and the other one being
protection of their work and claim to it so we know who the content creator is, so if someone
did steal their work they would be fined and possible put in in prison, especially if they tried
to publish it or sell it as their own, if you are interested in more information if can be founded
on this website https://www.copyrightservice.co.uk/copyright/uk_law_summary .
Although there are copyright laws protecting images and such people have published their
work to be freely used by the public, especially with images and videos as these can be found
on the web, but before taking hold of their content you should read their copyright and
patents act just in case it says different if so you shouldn’t use it.
Software when you buy it means you don’t have a licence but are allowed to use it, if you
share this with a friend you could get in trouble with the law as its breaching copyright laws
but you could get in even worse trouble by claiming it's yours and publishing it to the public,
this also includes selling it to the public or friends.

Ethical considerations
Copyright laws
The copyright laws that gap travel is aware of copying it directly from a website and saying
it’s your own, this could also include selling it as your own. Producing a software file and
giving it to a friend all this breaches the confidentiality of their information and this will not
be permitted in my multimedia gap travel project as it breaches laws. The copy right laws also
include music, videos, images and text etcetera.
I am also aware of how long the copyright and patents act is for, the lifetime of the creator of
the content and an additional seventy years on top of that after that the content gets passed
down to their ‘heirs’ or beneficiaries. I will not risk copying directly any content from a
website. If I do this would risk me getting fined a large amount or going to prison.

Confidentiality of information:
Confidential information is a valuable asset of my business. Information will only be protected
as a business asset if it is kept confidential within a small group. Unless it qualifies for
intellectual property rights protection, this being copyright, database rights and patents etc.
Secret information could and can be stored in any form and relate to any subject matter,
whether hard copy, electronic or simply stored in people’s minds. It’s often not appropriate
to rely solely on intellectual rights protection and the better strategy may be to maintain the
secrecy of that information. One way of keeping the secrecy of information would be to
impose specific confidentiality obligations on the recipients.
Turnit in checking
When I turn it in I should have a score a score of zero if not it should be at least under two as
I do not plagiarise other people’s work. I might take a few of their words to describe mine if
I’m struggling to describe it myself,
I will also use information from
websites. But if I do so I’ll be sure to
use quotation marks, so it proves
it’s not my words.
Classification on videos especially
When creating my product, I will be sure to check if the
video if appropriate for under eighteens as my product
will be represented to the younger generation. If it is
out of context I will be sure to use voice overs to cover
up the inappropriate sound and burs to cover up the
images. On my Treatment, I have talked about selecting
sounds and images and how this will help me finish
more quickly due to the right music and images as they
don’t contain any inappropriate sounds or images, so it
doesn’t take up my time covering the explicit content.
Clearances
When I choose my artist, I will need the clearance for me to
publish my work to the public, but because this is a school project
this won’t be necessary as my product will only be shown to my
class and the people who mark it. I have also included short clips
so it’s not copyrighted as well as pictures from the clip I have
shown. You will also need to get a waiver for the artist to sign so
he agrees to be on your product, this is necessary as if you don’t
they could sue you.
Privacy laws:
If my business collects sensitive consumer and employee data, I
need to understand my obligations to each law. ‘The Data Protection Act, gives individuals
the right to know what information is held about them’. My business is required to make sure
personal data is, held securely and kept no longer than is necessary. It should be protected
from unauthorised use. The Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations, if your
company was to send marketing messages either by phone, email, fax or text, you must
comply with the Privacy and Electronic Communications Regulations. It is unlawful to send
direct marketing to someone who has not given permission, unless there was a previous
relationship between the parties.
Decency laws:
If advertising nothing that offends against decency or encourages offence to public feeling.
Libel Laws:
Libel is defamation of a person, through mostly written word. Defamation could also be in
visual forms such as photographs and illustrations. Defamation is the untrue insinuation
against a person’s reputation.
The way represent the following:
Race
in my multimedia project, I will represent race equally and not discriminate against any one
because of their colour.
Gender
gender will neither be an issue nor will be used for discrimination in the role of my business.
Religion
My target market group towards religion won't play any pull/push factors on my project as I
want to attract as many people as I can, their will bias against religion.
sexuality
sexuality will not be discriminated as they're entitled to their own intentions of their choice
of person and I have the decency to respect that.

Codes of practice and regulations

OFCOM
Ofcom is in the telecoms sector in which companies
can compete fairly and businesses benefit from the
choice of services
Advertising standards authority
There are codes written by the Committees of
Advertising Practice. Which stop people form copy
right and any unauthorised actions
British interactive media association
the BIMA is Britain’s digital community. They
are innovative across the digital industry. They
represent the media and digital content sector.
‘The BIMA are the longest standing and most
prestigious digital awards within the UK’. They
help and inspire people to work within the
British digital community.

By Casey-Joe Hunt