Report

Contractual
Types of contract:

There are several types of contracts from employment, to property hire. These contracts are
designed to give partakers peace of mind that things will not go unexpectedly. The following
types of contracts are likely to be seen in the organisation of Aardman.

Employment: The most common contract will be an employment contract, designed to

outline the roles and responsibilities an employee must perform, as well as establish their
pay and their rights as an employee.

Facility hire: Sometimes it may be necessary that Aardman would need a specific facility for
their business. Either for storage or building sets. This contract type is designed to set out
what they’d get and for how much.

Suppliers: Aardman will have contracts with suppliers to provide them with supplies such as
tools, stationary, plasticine, paper and paints. All supplies needed to create their content.

Confidentiality: Confidentiality contracts are used to protect the production from leaks. For
example, they’d be used to prevent modellers from releasing imagery of their upcoming
characters, or to stop writers from sharing the story or plot.

Conclusion

To conclude contracts are designed so that all participants in a deal have their best interests
protected and legal evidence against anyone that should violate the terms of the contracts.

Non-disclosure agreements:

Non-disclosure agreements or as they can also be

known, confidentiality agreements. Are legal contracts
used by information holders to ensure sensitive
information is kept confidential. When a party member
signs such a contract they are legally obliged to keep, the
covered information shared with them a secret. They’re
most commonly used by inventors and big businesses to
protect their organizations from leaks about upcoming
products for example, a company like Apple would have
manufacturers sign them to protect each iPhone they
release’s designs and features from being shared about.
Time-management:

It is imperative that time is correctly managed, as if a film is set to

air at a specific date then it needs to complete and ready in
advance. How far in advance is dependant as a production team
might need additional time for adjustments, or they may be
ready only weeks before release.

On a smaller scale, it is important to use accurate time-management when completing small

tasks as if they’re not completed on time, then it’s likely the finished product wont be.

Negotiating contracts:

when an organisation proposes a contract some elements of it may not be quite right for
the other party, but because they are interested in the deal they may decide to negotiate.
This means that both parties will gradually lower their own expectations until the proposals
are both agreeable by the other. It is an important element to making deals as if it didn’t
exist, people would have to either agree to a deal that didn’t work for them, or dismiss the
deal altogether.

Regulatory issues
Censorship:

Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication, or additional information,

on the foundation that such content is considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive or
politically incorrect as sanctioned by government authorities or by a community consensus.

Governments and private organizations may engage in censorship. Other groups or

institutions may propose and petition for censorship. When an individual such as an author
or other creator engages in censorship of their own works or speech, it is referred to as self-
censorship.

Censorship could be direct or indirect, in which case it is referred to as soft censorship It

occurs in a variety of different media, including speech, books, music, films, and other arts,
the press, radio, television, and the Internet for a variety of claimed reasons including
national security, to control obscenity, child pornography, and hate speech, to protect
children or other vulnerable groups, to promote or restrict political or religious views, and to
prevent slander and libel
Copyright law:

International laws surrounding copyright dictate that any included

materials that have been copied or derived from the original source,
must have been authorised by the copyright holder of the content.

If copyrighted materials are used without permission you become

liable to prosecution under the ‘Copyright Act of 1976’. This ensues
steep penalties, the licensed holder of the copyright can claim for
statutory damages against you.

Videos, imagery, music and type are always protected under copyright laws. These elements are
strictly regulated.

General Considerations

There are many laws surrounding websites, detailing what can be included. Some are quite specific
however most are vague. These faint guidelines create big grey areas which can be exploited to
argue against certain procedures. For example, the laws state that anyone who is included in a video
must approve of their likeness being captured, however when filming large crowds, you can argue
there is no way to get all their permissions. There are a great many exceptions that exist under the
Copyright Designs and Patents Act of 1988.

Exceptions for use of copyrighted material

In the Copyright Designs and Patents Act of 1988 it is stated in the third chapter that under specific
circumstances the use of copyrighted material is acceptable.

Some of these exceptions are stated below.

 Temporary copies – If I was to utilise an image which was only intended to be a temporary
copy, which is deemed necessary to the production of the work.
 Reporting on events – In some cases it is acceptable to include copyrighted content when
including updated important news.
 Incidental inclusion – If copyrighted material is included accidentally then even though you
can be taken to court still, you most likely will not be prosecuted.

Trading Standards:

In Great Britain, Trading Standards are a local authority

department previously known as Weights and Measures.
Occasionally, the Trading Standards’ administration
functions as a local authority are performed by parts of
larger departments which enforces a wide range of other
laws: environmental health, health and safety, licensing
and more. These departments examine commercial
organizations that trade outside the law or in unethical
ways. They attempt to remedy issues by giving advice or by
sanctioning formal enforcements.
Health and safety policy:

In the UK, it is a legal requirement that any business that has more than 5 employees must
have a documented Health and Safety Policy. The policy should include several key bits of
information including who is responsible for key health and safety roles, as well as what the
company expects employees to do in specific situations to stay safe. The main intent behind
this document is to prevent any major injuries or putting anybody at harm.

Trademarks:

Usually denoted by either a capital R or TM in a circle, trademarks are designed to help

consumers identify makers of products. A trademark can be a logo, type, phrase or image.
Sometimes the trademark can be a product itself.

The trademarks are usually printed on either the packaging or the

product its self. And commonly on the building front to help people
distinguish which building belongs to each company. The first
trademark system was established in the 17th century when bakers
were required to score their baked goods so that their store could be
identified.

Freedom of information:

The Freedom of Information Act (2000) provides public access to any information held by
public authorities.

This can be done via one of two ways:

- Public organizations are obliged by law to publish information about their endeavors.

- Additionally, the public reserve the right to request said information from the
organizations.

The Act covers any recorded information that is held by public authorities in England, Wales
and Northern Ireland. The term ‘Public authorities’ includes government departments, local
authorities, the NHS, state schools and police forces. Although, the Act does not cover every
organization with certainty. As those which receive public money are grey areas. For
example, some charities that receive grants and certain private sector organizations that
perform public functions are exempt.

The term Recorded information specifies any printed documents, computer files, letters,
emails, photographs, and sound or video recordings.

The Act does not give people access to their own personal data (information about
themselves) such as their health records or credit reference file. If a member of the public
wants to see information that a public authority holds about them, they should make a
subject access request under the Data Protection Act 1998.

Professional bodies
British interactive multi-media association (BIMA):

Formed in 1985, BIMA also known as the British Interactive Media Association is a non-
profit group purposed with representing the interactive media and digital content sectors in
the UK. It is run by a committee of 13 who are elected at an event referred to as the AGM.

Their primary objectives are to promote the British

digital industry, share best practices and knowledge
throughout the industry and support the next
generations of workers in the industry. Additionally,
BIMA acts as a liaison for the UK government,
representing the industry as its’ voice.

Professional body codes of practise:

A code of practise document is a form created by a media outlet and the HM’s Secretary of
State for Culture. It sets out a list of terms and principles that are expected to be upheld by
the outlet. Codes of Practise are created for the betterment of all, ensuring the right
content reaches the right people, and minimises potential uproar.

Ethical
Cultural issues and language

As Aardman cater primarily to children and families they must be very careful about what
they broadcast, there would be huge backlash from viewers if they were to feature
profanity or any sensitive matters indecent for children. For example, racism, overtly sexual
content or other content.

Policies and procedures:

When creating a piece Aardman employees will have to follow a series of policies and
procedures to ensure that everything is completed to relevant standards. Additionally, the
procedures will be in place to make sure things are completed as efficiently and safely as
possible.

There will also be policies in place designed to tackle issues such as discrimination in the
workplace. These types of documents are seen in all workplaces as they are legal
requirements.
Ethical requirements:

As an employer Aardman must make all difficult decisions. These are imperative to the
business’ functionality but may sometimes be estranged from outside views. But above all
else they must conform to ethical requirements.

Social issues and sensitives:

We must consider social issues and sensitives when producing the special
as we would not want to discriminate or shine an unflattering light on
issues that are socially taboo or sensitive. Things like religion, or ethnicity.
This would shine negative lights back on us.

Representation of gender:

There is a dominant representation of each gender in the

media industry, these days many projects aim to challenge
these representations and demonstrate progression, however,
the stereotypes tend to loom. In modern times, productions
that exhibit derogatory stereotypes tend to receive backlash
from audiences, for this reason it is wise to steer clear of these
stereotypes.