Films, Videos, and Publications Classification Act 1993

This Act is New Zealand’s main classification law for films, videos and other publications. It sets the framework for labelling films, classifying publications, restricting access to some material, and dealing with objectionable content.

It also covers review and appeal processes, inspection and seizure powers, offences, take-down notices for objectionable online publications, and a separate regime for specified commercial video on-demand providers.

For a business owner, the practical question is usually simple. Before you supply, exhibit, display, advertise, host or stream content, do you need to check its classification status, labelling status, age restriction, display conditions or online compliance position?

The Act is broad, but it does not affect every business in the same way. It clearly matters to businesses that supply films, publicly exhibit films, sell or display publications, import stock, host online content, or operate a listed on-demand service.

The interpretation section shows that a publication can include more than films. It also defines a book to include a book, magazine or periodical, but not a newspaper published at intervals of less than 1 month.

Commercial video on-demand content is also specifically addressed. The Act says this means video on-demand content made available to people in New Zealand for a fee or other consideration, subject to an exclusion for certain broadcaster subscription platforms where the content has been classified under a broadcasting code.

Most problems under this Act start with an ordinary business step. You add a title to your catalogue, import stock, put a poster in a shop window, screen a film at an event, or allow users to upload content. If the item is restricted, objectionable, unlabelled or otherwise regulated, that routine step can become a compliance issue.

The Act is especially important when your business is making content available to the public in New Zealand, or when you receive a formal notice, complaint, inspection visit or classification-related request.

Part 2 deals with labelling of films. The Act includes rules that films are to be labelled, along with provisions for trade screenings, exemptions, applications for labels, issue of labels, the rating and description applicable to copies, and a film database maintained by the Classification Office.

For businesses supplying or exhibiting films, the first practical check is whether the film must be labelled before public supply or exhibition. The next check is whether an exemption applies. After that, you need to make sure the correct rating and description are used on copies and related public-facing material where required.

The Act also contains provisions about excisions and alterations to films, and when a classification applies only if those changes are actually made. That matters if you rely on an edited version of content.

Part 3 deals with classification of publications more broadly. It includes examination and classification, conditions relating to display of restricted publications, further provisions about those display conditions, issue of labels for restricted publications other than films, and notice and register provisions for classification decisions.

For retailers and venues, this means the compliance question is not only whether an item can be sold. You also need to ask whether it is restricted, whether age limits apply, and whether there are conditions on how it may be publicly displayed.

The Act also specifically addresses film posters and advertising posters. If your business promotes restricted material, your poster and display practices need the same attention as the item being sold or shown.

The Act does not regulate every online service in the same way. Its clearest online host regime is in Part 7A, which deals with take-down notices for objectionable online publications.

Part 7A includes definitions, application provisions, issue of take-down notices, required contents of notices, a rule that an online content host must comply with a take-down notice, enforcement, remedies and costs, review, and reporting.

If your business hosts online content, you should have a process for identifying legal notices, escalating them quickly, preserving records, and making sure the right staff can act. This is different from ordinary platform moderation. It is a statutory process.

Part 3A creates a separate regime for specified commercial video on-demand providers. It has an extraterritorial application provision, which means the regime can apply to specified providers even if they are based outside New Zealand.

The core duty in Part 3A is the duty to label commercial video on-demand content. The Act distinguishes between content previously labelled or classified and content not previously labelled or classified. It also sets rules for how ratings and descriptions must be determined.

The Act allows approved self-rating systems. It also requires the Chief Censor to annually review approved self-rating systems and gives powers to suspend or cancel approvals. Part 3A also includes a complaints process within that regime.

Schedule 4 lists the specified providers in the current version of the Act. Because the schedule can be amended by Order in Council, businesses should check the current schedule before acting.

The Act gives Inspectors of Publications real operational powers, but they are not unlimited. Section 106 allows an inspector to enter premises that are not private residences where films are offered for public supply, publications are publicly displayed, or film is exhibited to the public, or where the inspector has reason to believe film is being exhibited to the public.

That entry power is for a specific purpose. It is to ensure compliance with the Act and regulations relating to the labelling of films, and with any conditions imposed under section 27 relating to display of restricted publications.

Inspectors cannot use section 106 to enter a private residence. They also cannot enter when the premises are not open to the public unless accompanied by, or with the knowledge of, the owner or occupier or that person’s representative, agent or employee.

On entry, an inspector must produce their warrant, or if a constable, evidence that they are a constable, when required. Inspectors may require production of documents relating to labelling or classification, take copies or extracts, and demand information reasonably required for the inspection.

A person does not have to answer a question if the answer would or could tend to incriminate them, and must be informed of that right before information is demanded under section 106.

Part 8 contains a wide range of offences. These include offences relating to labelling, objectionable publications, restricted publications, exhibition to persons under 18, public place conduct, breach of display conditions, possession of objectionable publications, and livestreaming objectionable content or sharing objectionable livestreamed content.

For most businesses, the practical risk is not only deliberate misconduct. It is weak systems. A retailer may stock a title without checking its status. A venue may admit underage patrons. A website may fail to act on a formal notice. A marketing team may use posters without checking display rules.

The safest approach is to build classification and restriction checks into your normal workflow rather than treating them as a one-off legal issue.

Good records make this Act easier to manage. If your business is inspected or challenged, you should be able to show what classification or labelling checks were done, what restrictions applied, and what documents you relied on.

Part 9 also creates an annual levy for specified CVoD providers. A specified provider listed in Schedule 4 must pay an annual levy for each financial year, or part year, during which it is listed. The Act also says a dispute does not suspend the obligation to pay the levy, and approval may be suspended until the debt is paid.

The Act was assented to on 26 August 1993. Some provisions came into force the day after assent, and the rest came into force on dates appointed by Order in Council. The note to section 1 states that the rest of the Act was brought into force on 1 October 1994 by the commencement order.

Because the Act has been amended many times, and because Schedule 4 can be amended by Order in Council, businesses should always check the current version before relying on an older internal policy or supplier statement.

Businesses usually get into trouble under this Act because the legal rule is not built into day-to-day operations. A good compliance process should connect your stock intake, catalogue setup, marketing approval, age controls, staff training and incident response.

If you deal with films, publications or hosted content, your records should show what you checked, when you checked it, and who approved release or display. That matters if a customer complains, an inspector attends, or a take-down notice arrives.