The regulations of the film industry in the UK and the US

Film regulation in the US.

• The Motion Picture Production code was the set of industry moral censorship guidelines that governed the production of most United States motion pictures released by the major studios from 1930 to 1968. (Popularly known as the Hays Code after Hollywood's chief censor of the time Will Hays).
• It was developed to ensure the absence of 'offensive material' and prevent from government interference in film industry.
• Hays retired in 1945 and The MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) took over. 
• In the late 1960's, the american film industry looked to artistic freedoms and the removal of the Hays code.
• In 1968, MPAA president Jack Valenti replaced the Hays code with the film rating system they use today. 
• The voluntary rating system consisted off G(general audiences), M(mature audiences-changed to PG), R(restricted audiences-no one under 16, later changed to 17), X(Adults only).
• In the 1980's/1990's some changes were made: G, PG(parental guidance), PG-13(midpoint between PG and R), R, X, XXX(added by pornography industry in the 1980s)
• 2004- Under Dan Glickman, the MPAA encountered the rise of the digital era meaning new opportunities as well as new threats. The most serious threat being the online copyright theft.

The current American rating system:

Film Regulations in the UK.

• The British Board of film classification(BBFC)was set up in 1912 and has been classifying cinema films and videos/DVD since the videos recordings act was passed in 1948.
• Cinema-In 1912 the British board of film sensors was set up. It was set up by the film industry as an independent body to standardise the classification of the film industry.
• Statutory powers on film remain with local councils which can overrule any of the BBFC'S decisions.
• Local councils can: pass films that the BBFC reject, ban films they’ve passes and even abandoning cuts and putting new one into place. They can also alter categories for films exhibited under their own licensing jurisdiction (authority.)  
• Video-In 1984 parliament passed the video recordings act.
• The video recordings act stated that, video recordings (bar certain exceptions) offered for sale or hire commercially in the UK must be classified by an authority designated by the Secretary of State. The President and Vice President of the BBFC were designated with applying the new test of ‘suitability’ for viewing in the home’.The boards title was changed to the British Board of Film classification to reflect that classification plays a bigger part in the BBFC’S work than censorship.

Comparison of the regulations in the UK and US.

•  The members of the US board work for the Classification and Rating Administration (CARA), an independent division of the MPAA, in common with the BBFC as they're both funded by fees charged to producers/distributors for the rating of their films.
• Legally, the US rating system is voluntary, film makers aren't forced to submit films to the board for rating but most producers/distributors choose to. Members that are signed to the MPAA, which represent the major studios, have agreed to submit all of their theatrical releases for rating. Unlike the UK system, any American producer/distributor who wishes to avoid movie rating can go straight to the market without any rating or use any description of symbol they choose, as long as it cannot be confused with the recognisable symbols that are trademarks of the MPAA and can't be used by any other individual or organisation. 
• The US rating board is not associated with the U.S government and the film ratings have no legal meaning.However, most American filmmakers apply for a formal as US theatre chains are usually reluctant to show unrated films. Films that are released without rating are usually small, independent films/ foreign films and other types of films you wouldn't expect to receive wide distribution.
• Both the UK and the US have roughly similar age gaps between the five main film categories:
• (both have ‘PG’; ‘12A’ in the UK matches with ‘PG-13’ in the US, for example, or ‘18’ and ‘NC-17’). However, these similarities can be misleading, as the classifications are handled in quite different ways by both the public and the cinema theatres.
• In the UK, the BBFC has been classifying videos/DVDs since the passing of the Video Recordings Act in 1984. Even if a film has already been given a category for cinematic viewing, the BBFC will separately classify the DVD version of it, to be sold or rented. It is possible for a DVD of a film to have a different classification to the version shown in the cinema.