Access-based TV shows: a legal and compliance masterclass with Abbas Media Law

Lawyers Nigel Abbas and Paul Schaefer from leading TV law firm, Abbas Media Law are coming to our Leeds office on Wednesday 30th October to present a legal and compliance masterclass on access-based TV programmes.

Access-based single docs and series are a staple of UK television schedules. Filming with the police, ambulance and other emergency services; following debt collectors; filming in hospitals, prisons, schools, airports … and all sorts of commercial organisations provide some of the most compelling must-see television.

But making and broadcasting such programmes can be fraught with risks: what if the organisation you’ve negotiated access with wants to ‘pull the plug’? What if someone who has been filmed complains their privacy rights have been infringed?  As the recent £120,000 fine imposed on a UK indie by the data protection regulator the ICO shows, the stakes can be very high indeed for programme-makers.

Get in the Know

This 90 minute seminar looks at the wide range of legal and regulatory issues that crop up when making access-based docs and documentary series.

The session will include discussion of:

- best practice on securing access
- how to persuade organisations who are nervous about granting access that they can do so with minimal legal risk
- how to navigate successfully the myriad of laws and regulations that apply
- privacy and defamation laws
- data protections laws
- relevant Ofcom rules

The session will also update those attending on changes to data protection law following the implementation of the GDPR, Data Protection Act 2018 which incorporates The Law Enforcement Directive, and well as the position following important regulatory decisions such as Ofcom’s “Miss F” judgment which clarified Ofcom’s position regarding the use of Go-Pro camera filming and when it amounts to secret filming.

Should you attend?

The session will be invaluable for anyone involved in making access-based programmes. Issues will be brought to life through the use of clips, hypotheticals and thorny questions which often arise.

In addition, if you have any burning questions on this subject, this is also your chance to grill the Abbas Media Law legal team, who regularly advise on access docs and are some of the most experienced television content lawyers in the country.