I am doing a project on magazines, what laws are there that concern magazines in the UK?

Question

It is a business studies project and part of it requires me to talk about laws that magazines have to comply to

Answer 1

Any publications are covered by the same laws that cover any form of written communication- libel, defamation etc. There is a 'Code of Conduct' adjudicated by the independent body called the Press Complaints Commission - they explain it on their website:

http://www.pcc.org.uk/index2.html

The most recent controversial case that actually got to court I can remember was a private prosecution under blasphemy laws that had more or less remained on the statute books by accident : Mrs. Mary Whitehouse v g*y News. That was in the mid 1970s.

[Added 10.8.08 - Sorry, I'd better try to be factually accurate given the subject: what I meant was 'the most controversial recent case ...'. See also Max Mosely and HRH the Duke of Edinburgh references below]

There are regulations about obscenity and the 'corruption of minors' which in practice ban newsagents from selling magazines including full frontal nudity to under 18s (which is odd as you can marry at 16), and showing nipples on the front cover. Many small boys grow up thinking women have black stars on their chests. The regulations also stipulate that mainstream pornography must not be displayed 'in such a position as to attract the attention of minors' - which is why such magazines are called 'top-shelf'.

There are a couple of things creating a bit of a stir at the moment as to whether the UK has 'privacy' laws or not.

Try googling 'Max Mosely' or 'Duke of Edinburgh prostate cancer'.

[Added 10.08.08 - If you are doing this as a major project, you might like to look at the legal loophole which allows publications to report on articles in foreign publications when they are nervous of reporting the 'alleged' event itself. Many front page articles in the more colourful tabloids begin " It has been reported in the German weekly 'Stern'...", or "According to 'Hola!', the Spanish celebrity gossip mag ....".]