LO2 - Task 3 - Legal and Ethical Issues

 Legal and Ethical Issues

I initially believed there to be no legal issues, as I was under the wrong impression that all the music available from 'audio network' was uncopyrighted; this was not the case, as although it is possible to download it for free it is not necessarily free for use, as I discovered that all the artists credited for the pieces of music have a PRS licence. This may cause a legal issue as I have not credited any of the musicians or song titles and I have not seeked permission from the artists to include their work in my project. Hopefully this will not cause a legal issue as my work is not a major/proffesional project and no one involved will recieve profit from it. However, should one of the musicians or their legal representatives get in contact and express that they wish for credit and/or profit for their work, or wish for it to be removed from my piece, than the issue would be dealt with and hopefully ressolved as soon as possible. Below are the music sources used for my film. The music included 'Cast Your Cares Away' by Paul Mottram, 'Halcoyn Days' by Ian Hughes and 'Big Little Kid' by Lincoln Grounds, Jason Peddar and Ben Ziapour.

http://www.audionetwork.com/browse/m/track/cast-your-cares-away_4358

http://www.audionetwork.com/browse/m/track/big-little-kid_57092

http://www.audionetwork.com/browse/m/track/halcyon-days_155

Other sound effects used, such as the 'booing' sound effect, were not copyrighted and were available to use online.  These should not cause any legal issue. Below are the sources to the sound effects used.






I recieve permission from all actors for me to film them and I recieved permission from staff members to film on the UTC grounds/property, so these subjects also won't cause any legal issues.

However, I did have some ethical issues with the film as I was concerned for the safety and well-being of the actors involved, espeically Dom who is invloved in the majority of slapstick/physical activity in the film, (e.g. getting hit by eggs and a folder). These were established in the risk assesment, I gained confirmation from Dom that he was willing to go through with these scenes, and also kept it clear that these scenes could be cut if Dom didn't feel comfortable with taking part in them.

Another ethical issue was caused by the egg-throwing scene as I worried about the mess caused by the eggs after filming, especially since it could be classed as littering which is a criminal offence. To avoid this issue, I made it clear to staff members what would take place in the scene and that it could easily create a mess and asked if it would still be acceptable to film the scene there or if we would have to find another location. Staff representing the college gave permission for us to film film this scene of college grounds, as long as any mess created was cleaned up after filming had finished. Whilst shooting this scene, I layed a black plastic bag on the floor so that a majority of the broken eggs would land on that to reduce the amount of work when cleaning up afterwards. I personally volenteered to take responcibility of the mess and tidy it up myself. As soon as filming finished the mess was tidied by myself and one of the caretakers.