videos and dvds for sale and hire

(for all nations)

Enter your postcode in the field at the bottom of this page to see if your local authority trading standards department has the full leaflet version available on its website. 

All videos and DVDs, other than certain 'exempted' ones, must have been submitted to the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC). This Board will either give the video or DVD a certificate or refuse classification.

It is an offence to: supply, offer to supply, to have in possession for supply any video or DVD that has not been classified. There are seven different categories of classifications; U, Uc, PG, 12, 15, 18 and Restricted 18 (R18).

Under the Trade Marks Act 1994, many companies have registered their Trade Mark and incorporated it on the label, the video cassette and DVD and on the content so that it can be seen on viewing.

If an unauthorised copy is made, found in possession for sale or hire or so sold or hired and it has a copy of the registered trade mark, an offence is committed which can result in a prosecution. The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations 2008 replaced the Trade Descriptions Act 1968, and creates offences where any misleading actions, omissions or aggressive practices make a consumer take a purchasing decision. There are also 31 banned practices. This can include a description, a price or the omission of details.