Terms and Conditions of Business
- VIDEO CLASSIFICATION

PART ONE

1. In these Conditions the British Board of Film Classification is referred to as "the Board", the company, person or distributor dealing with the Board is referred to as "the Customer", and the Video Recordings Act 1984 is referred to as "the Act". “Video work” and “video recording” have the same meaning as in the Act.
2. The Customer acknowledges and agrees by placing video works with the Board that:
1. this is a business transaction to which the normal rules of business apply;
2. the clauses contained in these Conditions which exclude, limit or modify the liability of the Board, its Director, officers and servants are reasonable;
3. the value of video works and other items which may be entrusted to the Board by the Customer and the degree of work for which the Customer obtains the services of the Board will vary considerably and may be disproportionate to the Board's fees which cannot, for this reason, be varied;
4. it is a condition of the Board's agreement to provide services for the Customer that in the case of video classification there shall be prepayment according to the Board's published tariff of fees.
5. Fees are non-refundable, in whole or in part, for any work carried out by the Board and the customer shall remain liable for the full amount. The customer shall pay all value added tax at the rate prescribed by law.
3. The Customer similarly further acknowledges, undertakes and agrees that:
1. any video work entrusted to the Board will not be the master or sole copy of the work and will be retained by the Board in all cases;
2. the video or other recording submitted to the Board for examination and classification will in normal circumstances be continuous and will not include any gaps;
3. any time-coding superimposed onto the video work will commence at the first frame of sound or visual information, whichever is first, and will end with the last frame of sound or visual information, whichever is last, and such time-coding will not extend through sections of the tape which are not intended to be reproduced on the release version when this is classified;
4. no video recordings will be accepted unless accompanied or preceded by a completed submission form;
5. there will, in normal circumstances, be a 72-hour processing period between the viewing of a video work or other item and the release of the Board's decision; the Board will always endeavour to reduce this period in genuine emergencies, but there shall be no obligation on the Board to do so; there may be occasions where the Board in its absolute discretion deems that the nature of the work entails a longer processing period, and no action, claim or demand shall lie against the Board in respect thereof;
6. the Board shall notify the Customer whether or not it considers a video work is suitable for classification and, if it considers a video work is suitable for classification, an Interim Clearance Form will be sent to the Customer;
7. receipt of an Interim Clearance Form allows the Customer to appeal against the decision of the Board (see Video Appeals Committee Provisions 1985). If the Customer does not wish to appeal, the Interim Clearance Form must be countersigned by an authorised representative of the Customer and returned to the Board;
8. upon receipt of the countersigned Interim Clearance Form the Board shall, provided that it remains satisfied that the video work should be so classified, issue a Video Classification Certificate of the category indicated in the Interim Clearance Form; in the event that the Board is not so satisfied it shall notify the Customer accordingly and proceed as if no Interim Clearance Form had been issued;
9. any liability of the Board for any loss of, or damage to, video recordings, the property of a Customer, whilst in the Board's keeping for purposes of classification shall be limited to the replacement value of the recording medium, together with the cost of transferring to it from a master copy the necessary audio-visual information;
10. the Board cannot be held responsible for any loss or damage incurred by the Customer or any third person as a consequence of any professional advice or any recommendations provided by the Board at the request of the Customer;
11. the Customer is in a better position than the Board to insure the Customer's work and operations against loss, damage or delay arising out of any goods being left in the keeping of the Board or their being transported to or from the Board's premises, and the Board shall not therefore be under any obligation to take out such insurance.
12. Any video work submitted to the Board for classification together with all associated material may be used for educational, training, research or archive purposes.

PART TWO

1. Where at the request of the Customers, the Board supplies the services of an officer, examiner, technician or other person to the Customer, such officer or other person shall, for the purposes of any liabilities to third parties or loss or damage sustained by the Customer or by the Board, be deemed to be the servant of the Customer, and the Board shall not be liable for loss or damage of any kind, however caused.
2. Time is not of the essence in any contract with the Customer, and the Board shall not be liable for any delays in the supply of materials and services by it or any losses whatsoever due to any such delays, howsoever caused.
3. The Customer shall at all times keep the Board, its officers and servants effectively indemnified against all actions, proceedings, costs, charges, claims, expenses and demands whatsoever which may be made or brought against the Board, its officers or servants by any third party in respect of any alleged injury, loss, damage or expense arising out of or in connection with the services supplied by the Board to that customer.
4. The fee charged by the Board to the Customer in respect of its services relates to the examination by the Board of the Customer video work. The decision as to the Board's proposed classification and any conditions on which that classification will be issued, or alternatively its decision not to classify, will be conveyed to the Customer by the Board as soon as is practicable and will not unreasonably be delayed. In respect to Section E, below, additional examinations which may, in the view of the Board, be necessary will not attract further fees. The Board is not bound to reach any particular decision as to classification and may at its discretion decide that the work is not suitable for a Video Classification Certificate to be issued in respect of it.
5. Notwithstanding Section D above, a further fee will be payable:
1. for the whole of the video work in the event of a major remake or alteration after the Board's classification decision has been notified to the Customer, or
2. for the part of the video work where a minor amendment has been made after the Board's classification decision has been notified to the Customer, or
3. where changes have been made to a work following a cuts request that significantly differ from those required by the Board.
6. When a video work has been pre-cut by the submitting company, the Customer must submit an uncut copy of the complete video work in addition to the version submitted for classification. These must be clearly labelled.
7. Should the Board require cuts to be made, it will retain in its archive the version of the video work originally submitted for classification. The Customer will resubmit an edited further copy of the video work (retaining a duplicate) for examination. If the cut version is awarded a classification the Customer will be informed. The version as approved will also be retained in the Board's archive.
8. Under the terms of the Act it is necessary for the Board to retain in its archive a copy of the classified version. This copy must be precisely as supplied to the public and may not include any gaps.
9. A video classification certificate issued in respect of a work which contains images of such short duration that they are unlikely to register when viewing at normal speed may be withdrawn if the images throw into question the category awarded and were not drawn to the attention of the Board at time of submission.
10. Where a video classification certificate is issued in respect of a work, the use of such certificate, BBFC symbols, BBFC consumer advice and BBFC extended classification information is granted solely for use in the identification, labelling and distribution of the classified work in the form of a video recording.
11. Customers must not use such certificates, BBFC symbols, information and labelling to promote, identify or otherwise represent that any work has been granted BBFC certification for electronic distribution by streaming, downloading or similar, unless such ‘Online Classification’ and licence for the use thereof has been granted by the BBFC to the customer under the terms of the BBFC.online scheme and the customer remains a member in good standing of the BBFC.online scheme.

4th July 2008