[curtinparloe]

FT News Article

Basically, the video recording act is unenforcable. They'll be sure to rush through some legislation to close the gap, but in the meantime zero-budget independent filmmakers can sell their DVDs legally! Woo!

[Michael]

Let's make a porno!

[Cop]

Let's make an animal porno with children!

[Michael]

Apparently it's going to take three months to close this loophole.

So let's see if society implodes in this three months without censorship. If it doesn't, will it make sufficient evidence to abolish film classification in this country? Or at least make it optional?

[Jon Williams]

The FT reported that it'd take three months to 'close the loophole', but others have been suggesting it'll be sometime in the New Year. In the meantime it's not going to go away as everyone who's been convicted of any offence under the 1984 'Act' was been wrongly prosecuted, so this will open a floodgatge of appeals cases which will keep all this firmly in the news.

[Jon Williams]

BTW the 1984 VRA had turned into rather a mess. If you check out the BBFC website you'll find that material intended to 'inform, educate or instruct' is exempt, as are still images, audio only and text. And, as the Act was written a long time before DVD's and DVD extras, it's all a matter of interpretation as to what, besides the actual film, needed to be classified. In my book audio commentaries would be exempt, but the BBFC tells you that 'Our lawyers suggest that these require classification'. And what about 'the making of...' documentaries, interviews with cast and crew members and so on. Ask the BBFC and they reply with, "It's our job to classify things, it's up to you what you send us, we can't tell you what the law is - look at the Act". I did, and I discovered that it's policed by Trading Standards who only act in response to a complaint. Their concern is actually more with pirate copies. So I put the question to a cross section of Trading Standards departments as to what was exempt when it came to DVD extras. And I got a lot of different replies, ranging from nothing is exempt, to everything other than deleted scenes is. And then others pointed out that the film's classification applies to the whole DVD, so if it's an '18' then the extras can't be separately classified as they've got an '18' by default. What's more they couldn't imagine anyone complaining about any extras not having been classified (how would they know) but they would complain if any of the extras went way beyond the film's classification. Of course none of them wanted me to quote them, on the grounds that only a judge could make any legal interpretations. But I did get the impression that, provided the filmmakers included appropriate extras, they had more important things to be getting on with.

Right now, for the next few months, all this has been made irrelevant. But it is a golden opportunity to push for some sensible reforms, such as the introduction of 'unrated-18' which would bring us into line with the US as well as several other civilised countries.

[Joanna]

From Digital Spy's Gaming section...

Underage sellers 'cannot be prosecuted'

UK video legislation error discovered