'AS LIVE' PRODUCTION: Ofcom & Copyright Research

As producer, I am responsible for writing the script. In our case, as there are two producers I am only writing one half of the show - the second half. Whatever I write about has to be within Ofcom's regulations. Ofcom is the UK's communications regulator. They approve what is shown on television at the different times of day. Factors they look at are diversity and equality - everything on television should respect and not offend anyone from different cultures. Ofcom also look at figures and research to see what should be on the television, e.g. they recently found that "many children feel there is not enough content on television that reflects their lives" (Ofcom, n/d). 

Ofcom have a broadcasting code which I have looked into. There are 10 sections to the code:
1. Protecting under 18's
2. Harm and offence
3. Crime, disorder, hatred and abuse
4. Religion 
5. Due impartiality, due accuracy 
6. Elections and referendums 
7. Fairness
8. Privacy
9. Commercial references on TV
10. Commercial communications on radio 

The main ones I need to be careful of are 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8 & 9, to do this I will:
- make sure the content is suitable for under 18's, before the watershed. 

- make sure there is no harm or offence caused from what is said in the programme or any crime, hatred and abuse shown.

- make sure there is no unfair treatment shown between contributors. 

- make sure I avoid any unwarranted infringement of privacy in my programme and in connection with obtaining material included of programmes.

- be careful if I mention any shop names in my part of the script. I haven't looked into this properly yet but I'm unsure if I can say their names because of copyright issues. Independent / charity shops will be easily sorted as they will be more likely to give us permission because it is free advertising for them. High street stores will be harder as most of them are chain stores and we would have to go to a higher authority to ask for permission.

On the transmission day, Katie and I will have to make sure all the content and what is said follows Ofcom's guidelines. If someone swears or is offensive, it's our job to tell them what to say and to apologise for swearing / being offensive. We are responsible for everything that is said while we're on air. 

Refection:
- I will bare these factors in mind when writing the second half of the script to make sure I'm not disrespectful, that isn't my aim so I shouldn't have a problem. 

- Our show is very family / child friendly so there will be no rude jokes or any sort of language which could affect people anyway. 

- Our show is aiming to be on around 7pm so there will be no bad language written in the script and all contributors will be asked not to swear while on air.

Copyright is a big issue and can be an expensive court case if used incorrectly. It is against the copyright law to use someone else's work in your own work unless they have given permission to use it. 

Copyright is an issue I have to deal with in writing the script. We want to mention shop names so we can show the audience were we got the items of clothing from. We have also put the shop names 'Primark' and 'River Island' in the script at the moment in the introduction to the DIY section - but this may have to be changed. 

In the section where I've mentioned Primark and River Island, it says:

SEQ 5. DIY

We aren't planning to put any logos or the names on the screen, the presenters just say the names, but some people may think that we are implying that Primark is cheap or we are ripping River Island off by making similar clothes. The top that I am describing from River Island would be very easy to recognise if a viewer saw it in the shop. River Island might not like the idea of someone telling people how to make similar clothes instead of paying for theirs. As the show is going on youtube, this could easily be seen by someone who works at River Island.

To avoid this, I looked into the copyright rule for shop names. I didn't find exactly what I wanted but I found a business forum where someone had asked if they could use a name for a hairdressers which has been used before, but no where near their location. They weren't planning to use the same logo or font but the name was the same. I read down the page and found this answer: 

"My simple understanding is that names themselves are not subject to copyrite, only when signage and design of a logo are involved" (Stevas, 2012). 

If I was to go by this answer, we would have no problem because the names of the shops won't be on the screen, until we are focusing on the clothing and where it was from - then we would have the shop name and price as a graphic onscreen. The names will be written in a plain font and will not be the same logo as the shop names - so according to this we should be fine. 

However, other people on the forum were advising to simply not use the same name just in case.

Again, because we are responsible for what is said, it would come down to use if we were in breach of copyright. This is why it's important for this research into copyright to assure I am not breaking the rules while writing the second half of the script.

Reflection:
- I will consider re-writing the introduction to DIY and maybe just say 'I brought this top from a shop... but in this shop I could have got a cheaper top and made my own...', just incase, as I haven't found a definite answer. 

- I may simply leave it as ad-libbed, and let Adeline just give her experience of an attempt of DIY. This will save any copyright issues 

References:

- Ofcom. (n/d). New Research on Children's TV Viewing Habits. Available: http://www.ibt.org.uk/2017/12/05/new-research-on-childrens-tv-viewing-habits/. Last accessed 10th Feb 2018.

- Stevas. (2012). Shop name (copyright/trademark). Available: https://www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk/threads/shop-name-copyright-trademark.269639/. Last accessed 10th Feb 2018.

Images:

- Ofcom - http://www.ibt.org.uk/2017/12/05/new-research-on-childrens-tv-viewing-habits/

- Copyright - http://mybiz-canterbury.co.uk/news/national-news/changes-copyright-law-effect-now/