LO2: Legal and ethical issues

Obscene Publications Act - The Obscene Publication Act states that it is illegal to publish anything that may negatively effect the audience. This includes discussion/appearance/promotion of sex, drugs and alcohol. My magazine, No Complie has a target audience of 15 to 18 years, since they are the most dominant age range who Skate, BMX and partake in extreme sports. This target audience are  still likely to live with their parents. Despite the stereotypes, it is important that the magazine doesn't promote uses of drugs such as Marijuana, despite it being a stereotypical drug used by skaters. It is also important not to refer to or promote alcohol, although it is likely to be commonly used among that age range since they are growing up and likely to be experimenting with intoxicants in order fit in.

Libel Law - This law states that it is illegal to publish defamatory and harmful content about a person or publish untrue information. Therefore when interviewing the people who will be featured in NO COMPLIE, I will have to make sure that I only include real things that were said in the interview.  I will also have to present the people with copes of  the interview in order to ensure that they are content with how they are being verbally presented in the article. This way there is no risk of breaking the Libel Law.

Copyright - Copyright allows producers of content to protect their intellectual property and preventing it from being used without permission. Because of this I will be required to use my own photography in my magazine, since that way I don't need to gain permission to use it since I have created the asset myself. In terms of taking pictures of featured individuals in my magazine, I will have to request that they sign a release and consent form stating that I am allowed to use their image in my magazine. The release and consent form contains a summary of what the person is agreeing to, followed by a date, printed name and signature. If the images of people happen to be wearing branded clothes, I will need to ensure that I gain permission from the owner of the brands to include it in my magazine. However it is likely that they will allow me to use their brands for free, since it would mean free advertising for them. The process of gaining their permission would needed to be contained in a legal document similar to a release and consent form. When taking pictures of locations, I will need to make sure I have permission use those locations, however to avoid this, I will ensure that I take pictures on public land, meaning I don't need to gain permission to use those locations. Any other graphics and logos will also need permission to be used, however to avoid this, I will create my own graphics in my magazine.

Laws of Contempt/Contempt of Court - This law states that you are not permitted to publish anything that could compromise an individual unless they have been proved guilty in public and in court. The way many journalists avoid breaking this law is by using terms like alegedly and suspected.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/the-northerner/2014/oct/23/sheffield-devonshire-quarter-petition-development

I can not mention the possible illegal procedure which is mentioned in this article, due to laws of contempt article, even though it reflects on the lifestyle and culture in skateboarding.


Ethical Issues: The prevention of offending people who have different cultures, religions, beliefs and sexual orientation. The target audience my magazine are not likely to respect social justice, and it would make sense to make certain jokes/references in the magazine that would appeal to the audience, however it is more important to ensure that those jokes do not target or ridicule anyone with different ethnicity, religion, culture or sexual orientation. This is because it is totally unacceptable to target people for those reasons. It also important that the people who are taken pictures show a variety of ethnic backgrounds in order not to offend audiences by making them feel excluded from a certain trend. This way magazine also appeals to a wider audience. It is also important that in the magazine during the interview, swearing is either avoided or censored out by using stars since swear words usually offend people, especially people with particular religious beliefs.