LO2: Legal And ethical issues

Legal And Ethical Issues (LO2)

• Obscene Publications Act

The publication of any material that will negatively impact the reader base that you are attempting to reach. (promotion of alcoholism or drugs for example.) For my magazine it is important that i do not put to much emphasis on the "rock and roll lifestyle" (That being an over-indulgence of alcohol and drugs.) As that this could effect my young target audience as that they may feel a need to mimic people they look up to and therefore have this lifestyle themselves. I should make sure to put emphasis on the music itself and not on the stigma surrounding it while writing Forge.

As a part of this it can be seen below that when writing the questions for the interview i will be conducting with "Glass Hearts" that i have been careful not to include anything that could be considered offencive.

I will also ensure use little to no foul language (swearing etc.) unless it is in the interview as that i want that to be a fair representation of the persona of the band. I do not feel the need to completely censor profanity as that i am targeting a 16+ target audience but i will use partial censorship (s**t, f**k) if a piece of obscene language is used.

I will also ensure that i will use an equal representation of models (that meaning a equal distribution of ethnic and gender groups.

• Libel Law

Libel law refers to publication of untrue (or unproven) information hat could be Harmful to a persons character.

To avoid any breach of this law i would always use the term "Allegedly" when a piece of language that could be considered libel
I will also ensure to show all of the members of the band i am interviewing my article about them before I publish it and sign a release and consent form which will give the rights of use of all created media to the producers of the magsazine.   

• Copyright

Copyright law gives the rights of use of a product (that being Literary, dramatic, artistic, Musical, Typographical arrangement of published editions, sound recordings, and film.)

If work is copyright protected then you are by law not allowed to:

Copy the work.

Rent, lend or issue copies of the work to the public.

Perform, broadcast or show the work in public.

Adapt the work.

This affects my work in that i will be featuring places which have established brands and therefore i must gain the copyright holder's consent (on a written form) before i can feature them in my work.

• Laws of contempt

Laws of contempt protect those facing legal action as that an audience can be easily swayed against one side of a legal dispute by the way in which they are informed about it.
In order to avoid violating this i would ensure to avoid reporting on ongoing legal disputes and if i must i would present it from a very impartial point of view as not to agitate anyone involved in the case.
In terms of my magazine court cases could include those of local venues being sued due to noise complaints and other disputes of this nature.


Ethical issues:

Forge magazine is a publication that attempts to encapsulate a whole city and therefore must be extremely diverse in terms of representation (Ethnicity and Gender) within photoshoots. This will stop anybody being offended or feeling as if they are unwelcome within the magazines community as that i would not like the magazine to be accused or prejudice.