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On 21 January 2010, the Video Recordings Bill received Royal Assent. This Bill corrects a procedural error that meant the Video Recordings Act 1984 (VRA) was not enforceable against individuals in UK courts. It repeals and revives the Video Recordings Act 1984 (VRA), restoring the public protection provided by a robust video classification system. It sets out the statutory requirement for videos, DVDs and some video games to be classified and age rated by the British Board of Film Classification.
The voluntary classification scheme the BBFC has been running since the discovery of the VRA's lack of enforceability ends with immediate effect. Henceforth, all classification certificates issued by the BBFC will be pursuant to the VRA.
The BBFC will issue replacement certificates in accordance with the VRA for all those works for which it issued certificates under the voluntary scheme between 1 September 2009 and 21 January 2010. So no customer need withdraw from sale any work for which a voluntary certificate was issued.
All classification certificates issued by the BBFC in accordance with the VRA since 1984 are valid, and remain so following Royal Assent of the Video Recordings Bill. Any video recording containing an unclassified video work which has been released in the interim period will need to be withdrawn from sale now the new Act is in force, unless the work can claim exemption.
The BBFC would like to thank its customers for complying with the provisions of the VRA by continuing to submit works to the BBFC for classification on a voluntary and best practice basis during the period of the VRA’s unenforceability.
Welcome to www.bbfc.co.uk
– the official website of the British Board of Film
Classification, the independent regulator of the film and video
industry in the UK.
Designed to keep the public and the industry informed about the work of the
BBFC, this website includes up to the minute information about
classification decisions; the policies and Guidelines used by the BBFC
when classifying a work; how to submit a film, DVD or video game
for classification as well as information about the BBFC.
The BBFC has three other websites. A website specially for parents, www.parentsbbfc.co.uk, provides in depth information about the content of films, DVDs and games. Parents and
teachers of children aged 5-12 years and younger may like to visit the
BBFC’s children’s website - www.cbbfc.co.uk.
www.sbbfc.co.uk
is designed for students and teachers involved in the study of media
regulation and film and anyone interested in film classification.
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