Cinematograph Act 1909

The Cinematograph Act 1909 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (9 Edw. VII c. 30). It was the first primary legislation in the UK which specifically regulated the film industry. It is notable for having unintentionally provided the legal basis for film censorship, leading to the establishment of the British Board of Film Censors in 1912.

During the 1890s and 1900s, most film exhibition took place in temporary venues such as fairgrounds, music halls and hastily converted shops (so-called 'penny gaffs'). The film then in use was made from the highly flammable cellulose nitrate base. Combined with limelight illumination, this created a significant safety hazard, resulting in a number of fatal fires.

The 1909 Act specified a strict building code which required, amongst other things, that the projector be enclosed within a fire resisting enclosure. All commercial cinemas (defined as any business which admitted members of the public to see films in exchange for payment) had to comply with these regulations. In order to enforce this each cinema had to be inspected and licensed by the local authority. The Act was amended in the wake of the 1929 Glen Cinema Disaster in order to give local authorities more powers to regulate the number of emergency exits and insist on other safety measures.

In the following year, the owner of the London Bridge Picture Palace and Cinematograph Theatre, in South London, was prosecuted under Section 2 of the Act after he defied a condition of the licence issued by the local authority, the London County Council, by opening on a Sunday (27 February 1910). In the appeal hearing which resulted, the cinema owner argued that the intention of the 1909 Act was simply to ensure health and safety, and that authorities had no legal power to attach unrelated conditions to cinemas' licences. The LCC won the appeal, which established the precedent that the purpose of restrictions on a cinema licence did not have to be restricted to fire prevention.

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