Earlier this month the Film and Publications Board (FPB) announced new draft guidelines focused on the classification of content creators locally, with significant implications for streamers in the country if it were to pass.

The guidelines, currently open for comment, were published by the FPB on 4th February and now Webber Wentzel has weighed in on what this could mean for streamers down the line.

“The Film and Publication Board has now published draft guidelines for public comment on the classification of films, games and certain publications. These guidelines would amend the existing classification guidelines,” note Carla Collett and Peter Grealy, partners at Webber Wentzel, in a press release sent to Hypertext.

According to the guidelines, the definition of a streamer is broad enough to be reclassified as a distributor, with the same notion applying to someone who shares content online via social media.

“The definitions of the words distributor and distribute are broad enough to encompass the streaming of content through the internet, social media or other electronic mediums,” Section 3.2.2 of the guidelines state.

“Distributors of a film, game, publication or online content will explicitly include persons that stream content through the internet, social media or other electronic media. This would seemingly include an individual posting a personal video on social media for non-commercial purposes,” the Webber Wentzel partners explain.

These are much the same issues that cropped up when FPB Amendment Bill was being hotly debated in 2019, with the ability to upload content to platforms like YouTube sitting in a grey area that left many creators confused or hesitant as to what the implications would be.

As such, while the FPB is looking to reclassify, there is a greater need to clarify what the potential ramifications of these guidelines are and whether simply uploaded short clip of video gameplay will place you under its jurisdiction.

This is therefore a developing story that we’ll look to get further insight and clarification on in the coming weeks.

For now, the latest FPB classification draft guidelines are available to view and download (PDF), here. Comments can be submitted within in 30 days of the notice’s publication and can be submitted by post or email at the following addresses:

By post: The Film and Publication Board, Private Bag X31, Highveld Park 0169.

By email: clientsupport[at]fpb[dot]org[dot]za

[Image – Photo by Fausto Sandoval on Unsplash]