I am writing to you regarding your job advertisement for an apprentice digital video production producer. I have noticed a few legal complications with this job advertisement.
A contract is either in a spoken or a written agreement, this is usually concerning employment or sales, this is also intended to be enforceable by law. Contracts of employment have a tendency to have 'small print' so the employee will need to scrutinise any clauses. They need to understand any implications of the job to fully understand what they are signing. A confidentiality clause is simply a clause in the contract which states that you must not give other people or any other companies private information about the employers activities. A exclusivity clause is an exclusive clause agreement in a contract that prevents a party to the contract from entering a similar contract with a third party. Your job vacancy is an exclusive contract, this is because in your job advertisement you stated that if successful, you must not apply for any other position of this nature.
The equality act legally protects people from discrimination in the workplace and in the wider society. In your job advertisement you have requested that the age of your required employer to be aged below 30 years old, you have also requested that the religious views of your required employer is to be of a Christian religion. Equal opportunities means to have the right to be treated without discrimination, especially on the grounds of one's sex, race or their age.
Employers liability means to ensure that you have at least a minimum level of insurance cover against any claims, employers liability insurance will enable you to meet the cost of compensation for your employees' injuries or illness whether they are caused on or off site. Employees rights are a group of legal rights and claimed human rights in relation to labour and working hours and negotiating pay. Workers are entitled to certain employment rights, some of these include:
- Getting paid the national minimum wage.
- Protection against unlawful deductions from the wages.
- The minimum level of paid holiday.
- The minimum length of rest breaks.
Trade unions are an association of workers in a trade, group of trades or a profession which is formed to protect and further their rights and interests. This association help union members with any problem they may face at work. The trade union BECTU has a freelance membership costing £120.
Codes of practice is a practical guide to achieve the standards of health and safety in the environment required under model Work Health and Safety. Codes of practice provide duty holders with guidance on effective ways to manage work health and safety risks.
Policies and procedures define what your organisation does as well as how you do it, they also support effective decision making and commissioning because they provide guidelines on what people can and what they can't do.
Representation is the description or portrayal of someone or something in a particular way. In your proposed video for the No means No date rape campaign, you have requested to include interviews from teenagers and other people who might/have been effected by the topic. You have also requested interviews from female victims and male offenders. These potential interviewees (teenagers who might/have been offended) you are intending to interview, may and will be portrayed as weak and a sex object, it is unfortunate that things such as sexual assault happen in todays society, they will be portrayed as weak, they will receive sympathy by the audience. However the other group of interviewees (male offenders) you are intending to interview will be portrayed as offenders, they will be viewed as criminals by the audience. The issue of sexual offences would be portrayed as an everyday issue in society, it would also be portrayed as if it is being sorted and as if it is being resolved. Just requiring male offenders and female victims is stereotyping, you seem to have not considered female offenders and male victims.
In the holy bible, it states that 'The man who lay with her shall give to the father of the young woman fifty shekels of silver, and she shall be his wife, because he has violated her. He may not divorce her all his days' From my own interpretation this is saying that sexual assault is acceptable as long as he is able to pay the women's father, however, as a Christian organisation, you are creating a production which is flaunting sexual offences as wrong and as a terrible offence. This seems contradicting to your bible.
Social concerns are also known as a social problem, social conflict, or a social illness. This means that if a problem arises, they that problem will influence a considerable number of individuals within society. This is also linked to representation because the way someone or something is portrayed through the media, influenced individuals or groups in the audience. In your job advertisement the 'offenders' they may want to involve in the production will be seen as a criminal, the audience will have thoughts running through their mind and they will make an instant decision abut the 'offenders' and that will be that 'they deserve to be in prison' However, the 'victims' will be seen as 'defenceless' some may even see them as 'brave' they will have thoughts running through their mind about the 'victims' too, they will be 'she's so brave, i'm so sorry for her and what she had to go through'.
The Ofcom broadcasting code includes rules and regulations involving jobs and their descriptions. Ofcom exists because of the communications act in 2003, it also exists because of the broadcasting act in 1990. For example protecting under eighteens which is ensuring that people under the age of eighteen are protected. In the job advertisement, you have requested that the production is to include re-enactments of any sexual offences and dramatizations involving children in high school, however the Ofcom broadcasting code states that where statutory or other legal restrictions apply preventing personal identification, broadcasters should also be particularly careful not to provide clues which may lead to the identification of those who are not yet adult. The Ofcom broadcasting code also states that broadcasters should pay particular regard to the potentially vulnerable position of any person who is not yet adult who is involved as a witness or victim, before broadcasting their name, address, identity of school or other educational establishment, place of work, or any still or moving picture of them.
The Ofcom broadcasting code also has rules and regulations about Harm and offence. This means it is to ensure that generally accepted standards are applied to the content of the television and radio services. This is to provide any protection for members of the public from any harmful/offensive material. In your job advertisement, you requested that you would like re-enactments in the broadcast, however in the Ofcom broadcasting code it says that the broadcasters must ensure that the material which may cause offense is justified by the context of the broadcast.
The obscene publications act is the law that makes it an offence to publish which includes any content that includes images of extreme sexual activity such as bestiality, necrophilia, torture and sexual offences.
BBFC (British Board of film classification) For this broadcasting video, I would personally give it a classification of an 18. This is because the context of this broadcast is to inform and it is to educate people, the BBFC website states that sexual scenes are used to educate and is used to inform the audience.
Intellectual property law deals with rules for securing and enforcing legal rights to inventions, designs and artists work, it protects any exclusive work. The exclusive rights allow the owners of the project to benefit from the product which they have created, providing a financial incentive, the pay is associated with the research and the development costs. The small print on the job advertisement, you are offering just £20 for the applicants efforts, which isn't enough money for the making of the broadcast. It is specifically not enough to purchase the rights and permission to use a popular music soundtrack.
You have also asked the applicants to use a popular music soundtrack to use throughout the production. However, popular soundtracks are copyrighted so failing to seek permission to use a soundtrack will result in a legal dispute. This is because copyrighted material protects written, theatrical, and artistic work including films, book layouts, sound recordings and broadcasts. When you produce a media product you must comply to the copyright law.
Yours sincerely,
Olivia Banfill.
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