Understand the ethical and legal constraints

within the media sector

Copy right law:
Why is important?
Copyright is important to music industries that own rights, as it provides them with a
legal right of ownership of the work that they produce. Which means they maintain some
kind of control over how it is used as this is how they get an income to live on from this
fair as it their work on which they have spent money and time on creating.

What is its purpose?

The purpose of copyright law is to protect the creator of a work against infringement, to
guarantee commercial exploitation and to stimulate new ideas. However, to be eligible
for copyright protection, certain specific conditions must be met.

What does it protect?

Copyright protects original works of authorship fixed in any tangible medium of
expression, now known or later developed, from which they can be perceived,
reproduced, or otherwise communicated, either directly or with the aid of a machine or
device. This definition is directly taken from the U.S. Copyright Act.

What happens if you break it?

If you infringe on someones copyrighted work, you could receive a polite letter or email
from the author asking you to remove the material from your website or otherwise stop
use of the work. You could get a notice demanding you cease and desist using and
distributing the copyrighted work, or you might discover that your Internet service
provider has already removed infringing content. You could face penalties of more than
$100,000 for each infringed work. You could go to jail. It all depends on the extent of the
infringement.

Importance of ethical issues:

Use of language:
Ethics concern an individual's moral judgements about right and wrong. Decisions taken
within an organisation may be made by individuals or groups, but whoever makes them
will be influenced by the culture of the company. The decision to behave ethically is a
moral one; employees must decide what they think is the right course of action. This may
involve rejecting the route that would lead to the biggest short-term profit.

Equal opportunities:
This is where men and women old or young should have an equal opportunity in the
industry however that is one thing because even in this age when it comes to the music
industry not many women or the main controllers of a music industry as it is only men
who run all of the production of it. Which isnt necessarily correct and they also tend to
be middle aged as this would mean technically that should have more experience.
However this doesnt offer equal opportunities to all types of people.

Encouraging diversity:
Having a diverse group of people helps as this prevents racism and it also means that
music produces with get a wider range of ideas as people with have different ideas
because of their different cultures it also means that they can broaden the industry and
location sets to more countries plus having a diverse range of people means that it opens
up to larger range of audience as it is more suited to different kinds of people.

What ethical issues should be considered when making music?

For example in music videos women and men both are now typically underdressed as
nowadays sex appeal is a very big way to sell music however ethically it places women
especially as just a sexual object which isnt ethically correct. An example of this is
Rihannas music video Rude Boy https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e82VE8UtW8A It
has sexualised both male and female in the video to make it more appealing. Another
ethical issue is that most people dont show people who have physical disability as it isnt
attractive however die antwoord have shown that diversity isnt a bad thing in their
music video enter the ninja https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cegdR0GiJl4

Representation of gender:
How are men and women represented in music?
They are very much made to look like the ideal kind of man/women however this is an
unrealistic and superficial image as they have been sexualised. However in the music
industry sex sells so creating this image for both men and women creates business.

Are they strong or weak?

In the sense that it tends to vary whether they look weak or strong. In a mans music he
will usually tend to make himself look like the dominate one as that is his particular role
as a man. However nowadays women are trying to regain some of that control by
showing their own power over a man by using their looks.

Supported with examples

An example of a man in control in a music video would be Eminems I love the way you
lie https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uelHwf8o7_U in this music video he is an over
powering abusive man who has to maintain control at all times yet still loves her.
An example of a women regaining control would be Jazmine Sullivans Bust your
windows https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mOzdfaEPaR0 in this she has just found out
that the man that she is in love with has been cheating on her so the way she gets her
own back is by smashing all the things that he loves- this shows weakness and strength.

Representation of religious beliefs:

An example of this would be Madonnas music video like a prayer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=79fzeNUqQbQ in this music video Madonna really
pushed the boundaries of the Christian religion by representing Jesus as black rather than

how they would usually show him as being white at this time it was very controversial
and by the fact that she also showed a cross burning and being in love with a black man
and being very underdressed.

How should men and women be represented?

Personally I feel that in this kind of industry they have been represented in the best way
for selling and creating a business however if it were it be anything else they have been
made to look very superficial and unrealistic. It says that looks mean more than anything
else and creates a fake image of what a man and women should be and look like.

Does your studio represent people fairly in their music?

They I feel still very much objectify women and over sexualise women as sex does tend
sell. However this isnt necessarily correct as it creates the wrong idea of what women
are and what they are actually like. However in this kind of industry over sexualising
means that the business will get a better income and for business means it is quite
necessary as it means pushing the boundaries to their limit.