Submission of video works on DVD

See [BBFC's Terms of Business], and the [DVD submission form].

THE DVD(S) AND THE SUBMISSION FORM MUST BE SUBMITTED TOGETHER. FAILURE TO DO SO WILL SEVERELY DELAY THE CLASSIFICATION PROCESS.

The BBFC will, where possible, take into account customer needs, such as release dates, but companies should submit works as soon as possible.

Customers submitting for the first time must supply specimen signatures from all persons authorised to accept the BBFC’s proposed category for the work. These must be supplied on company letterhead at the time of the first submission. See example below.

I .......... being a Director of .......... confirm that the under mentioned duly authorised signature(s) is/are entitled to accept a statutory classification and waive appeal rights on behalf of the above named company under the Video Recordings Act, 1984.

Sample signature .............................
Name (in block capitals) ....................
Sample signature .............................
Name (in block capitals) ....................

Filling in the submission form

Customers who submit works on a regular basis should ensure that the company name and account number are correctly entered on the submission form. If a company has more than one division the correct division name and account number must be entered on the form. In the case of a new customer, an account number will be created with the first submission.

Information on the submission form, such as whether a work has been previously classified in the UK, can affect the fee charged so it is essential that the information is correct. Incomplete information can delay processing of the work.

The title of the work on the submission form must be correct because this becomes the ‘formal’ title for classification purposes. If the title on the submission form and the one on screen are different this will delay the classification process.

If the work has been submitted before, it might qualify for processing as a Distributor Change, Secondary Classification, Technical Comparison Only or Caption Check Only. It is essential that as much information as possible be provided at the submission stage to enable the previous version(s) to be identified.

The customer should make clear on the submission form the language used in the work. The BBFC may need to arrange interpreters for some languages. A work in a language other than English need only include English subtitles if they will be present in the work when released.

Technical issues relating to the DVD(s)

• First submissions are measured from the start of any sound or visuals to the end.
• There should be at least 10 seconds of black before the beginning and at the end of the work.
• There should be no gaps or repeated scenes, unless they are an integral part of the work.
• Sound and picture quality must be consistent throughout. The quality must be adequate for examiners to see and hear clearly anything that the viewer could see or hear.
• The correct title must appear on screen and should match that on the submission form.
• It is helpful if submissions include burnt-in timecodes, but this is not mandatory.  Timecodes should be positioned in the top right hand corner of the screen and be hard-edged without any black background. They should not obscure the image on screen. The numbering should start from the first frame of picture or sound, whichever is earlier. There is no need to change the time-coding for any resubmission. Please see our Digital On-Screen Graphics policy.

For more information please see the Submission Criteria.

If you have any questions about the submission process telephone the customer helpline on 020 7440 0299 or email helpline@bbfc.co.uk.

Payment

Fees are calculated according to the tariff published on the BBFC website and also on request.

The BBFC operates a prepayment system for all works submitted. Customers can operate on a pro-forma invoice basis, or send money on account, which is run down as works are received and topped up as necessary. A ‘deposit against prepayment scheme’ is also possible. In all cases a VAT invoice is raised after examination or when the secondary process has been approved.

If you have any questions about payments contact the Accounts department on 020 7440 0370/1 or email accounts@bbfc.co.uk.

Examination

The examiners apply the current BBFC Guidelines to propose the appropriate category for the work. The Guidelines are published on the website and available on request.

Requesting a category

Specific category requests can be made on the submission form. The classification decision is reached following the BBFC Guidelines but, for example, if it is imperative that the work be awarded a ‘12’ category and it is assessed as ‘15’ the customer will be contacted to discuss the possibility of a second viewing of the work by senior examining staff or cuts to the work to reduce the category. This has the benefit to the customer of saving the time which would be involved in receiving a classification higher than required and having to repeat the submission process.

Cuts required

Most works are passed without any cuts and with little difficulty regarding the category. However, if the work does require cuts you will receive a letter which gives a summary of the cuts and then gives a detailed description of each cut that is required. See below for an example.

A summary of the cuts is published on the BBFC website once the work has been classified.

Approval

The formal authority for approval of works under the provisions of the Video Recordings Act rests with the President of the BBFC. This authority is delegated to the senior staff of the BBFC, the Director, the Head of Policy and the Senior Examiners. In this document these people are referred to as “approvers”.

All category proposals are considered by an approver. At this stage the work has been passed by the BBFC, but not classified. For a work to be classified the category decision must be accepted by the company, and the packaging approved if the company is a member of the VPRC scheme. If a recommendation for cuts is made, the work will be seen by an approver to confirm that the cuts requested are necessary and correct.

Interim clearance and classification

If there are no issues the Interim Clearance Form (ICF) should be signed by the company-authorised signatory and returned to confirm acceptance of the category. For customers with access to the extranet the category can be accepted online by a company-authorised signatory registered to do so. In either case a final classification certificate will not be issued until the ICF has been received by the BBFC. A work may not be legally sold in the UK until the final classification certificate has been issued. Approval by the BBFC is not sufficient. The ICF does not act as a final classification certificate.

For secondary classifications the ICF is not required; the final certificate reminds customers of their right of appeal and the work moves directly to classification.

Packaging

Any customer submitting a DVD for classification is automatically entered into the Video Packaging Review Committee (VPRC) scheme, unless they have specifically opted out. The committee approves the packaging of a work and the customer should ensure that they are able to submit the packaging in triplicate in sufficient time to fit their release schedule. Customers wishing to opt out of the scheme should notify the customer helpline on 020 7440 0299 or email Helpline@bbfc.co.uk.

For customers that have opted out, each work will classified as soon as the ICF has been received by the BBFC: packaging need not be submitted

Use of ‘TBC’ (To Be Confirmed) on pre-release promotional material

The BBFC understands that companies may need to produce pre-release publicity material for works which are awaiting or are in the process of receiving certification. In such instances, the BBFC will permit the use of ‘TBC’ superimposed over the category symbol in order to ensure that both retailers and the public are aware of the work’s interim classification status.

The category symbol must be present beneath the TBC and be the correct height and width in accordance with the VRA labelling regulations. Distributors may speculate on the potential category for the purposes of the exercise.

These TBC symbols can be downloaded from the BBFC website though distributors will need to contact the customer helpline (020 7440 0299) to obtain the link.

Distributors should aim to refresh packaging and publicity material once the final category has been confirmed.

Consumer Advice

The BBFC views the provision of Consumer Advice on packaging as very important. Our public opinion polling shows that the public wants Consumer Advice in particular to help decide which films to allow their children to watch. The Consumer Advice is provided with the category decision.

Titles on screen

Once the work has been approved an ICF may still not be issued if there is a query with the title on screen. It is the title on screen that is registered for classification (and not the one that may have been written on the submission form). If there is a discrepancy (except for minor mistakes in spelling or punctuation) between the title on the submission form and the title on screen, a Screen Titles Problem letter will be issued. The final classified title must appear on screen on the released product and on disc art/video labelling in accordance with the Labelling Regulations so this must be correct and conform to the Video Recordings Act. Please note that the classified title must use the Roman alphabet. The Board has a policy covering the use of potentially offensive language in titles.

Withdrawal Fee

Works submitted to the Board and subsequently withdrawn may incur a withdrawal fee. Please see the Notes to Fee Tariff for further information.

Retaining a copy of the submitted work

Under the Video Recordings Act the BBFC has a statutory duty to retain the original work as submitted to us.

Exempt Works under the Video Recordings Act

Under the terms of the Video Recordings Act 1984 it is the responsibility of the distributor to decide whether the work requires classification. For further information see Exempt Works.