Meet your film, TV and music production regulatory duties

A. Child performance licence

A production engaging a child of compulsory school age in a performance for which payment is made — or which is broadcast or recorded for an audience — generally needs a child performance licence from the child's home local authority, together with a registered chaperone and limits on working hours and conditions. The duty arises under section 37 of the Children and Young Persons Act 1963 and the devolved performance regulations: the Children (Performances and Activities) (England) Regulations 2014, the equivalent Scotland Regulations 2014 and the Wales Regulations 2015. Northern Ireland has separate provisions. The licence requirement applies to production, not post-production or distribution.

You apply to the local authority where the child lives, not where the production takes place. The chaperone must be registered with the licensing local authority. Depending on the devolved regulations, the chaperone may not be the child's parent or a person connected with the production — check the conditions set by the licensing authority.

B. BBFC video classification

Video works supplied on physical media — and certain digital supply — must, unless exempt, be classified by the designated authority, the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC), before supply. Supplying an unclassified or wrongly-classified work, or supplying to someone under the certificate age, is a criminal offence under the Video Recordings Act 1984 (re-enacted by the Video Recordings Act 2010). The BBFC operates UK-wide.

The classification duty attaches to the supplier or distributor, not the producer. If you produce content but do not supply it to the public yourself, the classification duty falls on whoever does. If you both produce and supply, you carry the duty.

C. Cinema premises licence

Exhibiting a film to the public is a licensable activity requiring a premises licence under the Licensing Act 2003 in England and Wales. The licence carries the mandatory film condition: the licensing authority must restrict admission in accordance with the relevant age classification (typically the BBFC certificate, or the local authority's own determination). Scotland licenses cinema exhibition under the Licensing (Scotland) Act 2005 and the Civic Government (Scotland) Act 1982. Northern Ireland retains a separate cinema-licensing regime.

The licence is granted by the local authority acting as the licensing authority. You apply for the premises licence before opening the venue to the public.

D. Copyright and intellectual property

The Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (CDPA 1988) is the core intellectual property regime for the sector. Films, sound recordings, broadcasts, musical works and literary works (including screenplays) are all protected. Producers must clear and license rights in any pre-existing material — scripts, music, images, archive footage — before incorporating it into a production. Copyright arises automatically on creation; there is no registration requirement in the United Kingdom. The Intellectual Property Office (IPO) administers. CDPA 1988 applies UK-wide.

E. Music rights and collective licensing

Recording studios, labels and music publishers must clear and license rights under the CDPA 1988, but the practical mechanism is private licensing through collecting societies — PRS for Music (songwriters' and publishers' performing and mechanical rights) and PPL (recording and performer rights). These are commercial bodies, not statutory regulators or licensing authorities; their conduct is overseen via the Copyright (Regulation of Relevant Licensing Bodies) Regulations 2014 and, for competition, the CMA. There is no government permit to record or publish music — the obligation is to hold the correct rights and licences.