Video licence

Videos for sale and hire

All suppliers of age classified videos must be registered with the Office of Fair Trading.

All videos, except those declared exempt must have been classified by British Board of Film Classification who will either give the video a certificate or refuse classification.

Video classification

A video work is classified with regard to all the material on the recording media used (i.e. tape, CD, DVD etc.). So, for example, trailers for other films would be considered in a video’s overall classification.

You must not add any material to a classified video unless you will be submitting it to the BBFC for re-classification.

Categories of classification

• U - Universal: suitable for all
• Uc - Universal: particularly suitable for children
• PG - Parental Guidance: some scenes unsuitable for young children
• 12 - Twelve: Not to be supplied to any person below 12
• 15 - Fifteen: Not to be supplied to any person below 15
• 18 - Eighteen: Not to be supplied to any person below 18

Videos classified as RESTRICTED 18 must not be supplied in the Isle of Man. The maximum fine for supplying such a video is £5,000.

Exemptions

Works which are solely designed to inform, educate, or instruct, concern only sport, religion or music or comprise only video games are exempt from classification, unless they contain scenes of a violent or sexual nature.

Labelling Requirements

You need to check the labelling of both:

• The cassette or disk – this must have the appropriate symbol on top of the spool on the face of the disk

and

• The case – this must have the appropriate symbol on its front and spine, and a label which includes the symbol and an explanatory statement on the reverse side

If you transfer cassettes or disks into library cases, you will need to have those cases labelled in accordance with the regulations. You do not have to label the front of transparent library cases if the label on the cassette spool or disk is clearly visible.

Fines

The maximum fine for selling or hiring incorrectly labelled videos is £5,000 per recording.

The maximum fine for selling or hiring an age restricted video to someone who is under that age is £20,000 and 6 months in jail. It is not an offence for children to buy or hire age classified videos when under age, only for you to supply them.

The maximum fine for supplying videos without being registered is £5,000.

Keeping Within The Law

• Check current stock and see that all videos have been classified
  
  
• Check new stock for labelling
  
  
• Make sure that cassettes and disks are in correctly marked cases both with the appropriate symbol and with the symbol and explanatory note
  
  
• Always observe any age restrictions on the video and make sure your
  staff do so – use our training log to monitor your staff's training

Good Practice Standard for Video Display

The following code is not mandatory as we understand the difficulties that video suppliers have with certain displays and at certain peak sales times which would make 100% adherence to this standard all but impossible.

However, we believe it would be in everyone’s interest if these standards were adopted wherever and whenever possible by all video suppliers.

1. Videos classified 18 on the higher shelves, 15 and 12 at lower levels and PG, U and Uc at the lowest levels
   
   
2. If adult type-videos, classified 18, are stocked which have nudity displayed on the box cover, we ask that these are stored spine outwards from the shelf. These videos should be displayed well within the 18 section, preferably marked ADULT and should not be easily viewed by under 18s and especially by under 12s
   
   
3. From time to time there may be posters promoting videos that might cause offence to certain members of the public. We will advise you of these posters and request that you do not display them, or if you do display them, you display them only within the registered premises in a way that makes it impossible for them to be casually viewed from outside
   
   
4. Although it is not illegal for an underage person to serve customers with videos classified above their age, we ask that such staff be supervised by an over 18 to avoid problems that may arise due to peer-pressure
   
   
5. Some suppliers show videos on tv screens within their premises for use by their own staff or for promotion. Wherever these displays can be seen by customers within the premises or by the general public from outside the premises, we ask that only Uc, U or PG certified videos be shown

Licence exemptions

Your may be exempt from the video licence if your business does not at present supply age-classified videos (that is those videos with a 12, 15 or 18 classification) and does not intend to do so in the future.

You will need to complete an exemption form declaration.