Film Levy Finance Act 1981

9 Interpretation

(1) In this Act—

• " the Agency " means the British Film Fund Agency ;

• " British film " shall be construed in accordance with subsections (2) and (3);

• " the Commissioners " means the Commissioners of Customs and Excise;

• " exhibitor" means a person carrying on the business of exhibiting films to the public in Great Britain;

• " film " includes any record (however made) of a sequence of visual images, which is a record capable of being used as a means of showing that sequence as a moving picture;

• " the levy" means the levy imposed in accordance with regulations made under section 2 ;

• " maker ", in relation to a film, means, subject to subsection (4), the person by whom the arrangements necessary for the making of the film are undertaken ;

• " the statutory maximum ", in relation to a fine on summary conviction, means—

  (a)

  in England and Wales, the prescribed sum within the meaning of section 32 of the [1980 c. 43.] Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 (£1,000 or another sum substituted by order under section 143(1) of that Act);

  (b)

  in Scotland, the prescribed sum within the meaning of section 289B of the [1975 c. 21.] Criminal Procedure (Scotland) Act 1975 (£1,000 or another sum substituted by order under section 289D(1) of that Act).

(2) The [1960 c. 57.] Films Act 1960 and the [1970 c. 26.] Films Act 1970 shall, subject to subsection (3), have effect for the purpose of determining whether a film is a British film for the purposes of this Act as they have effect for the purpose of determining whether a film registrable under the Films Act 1960 is registrable as a British film.

(3) Subsection (2) does not apply in relation to any film registered before 1st January 1961 under Part II of the [1927 c. 29.] Cinematograph Films Act 1927 or Part III of the [1938 c. 17.] Cinematograph Films Act 1938 ; but any such film in respect of which the conditions imposed by section 25(1) of the latter Act, as in force immediately before that date, are fulfilled is a British film for the purposes of this Act.

(4) Regulations under section 6 may provide that, for all or any of the purposes of the payments made under that section, an assignee of earnings in Great Britain of a film may, in such cases as may be provided for by the regulations, be treated as the maker of the film.

(5) References in this Act to the making of a film do not include the production of blank films or of positives intended for exhibition to the public, or the production of negatives by means of any process used for making copies of negatives.