The BBFC has told Edge it is taking legal advice after observing that the newly-proposed ‘traffic-light’ PEGI symbols bear a striking resemblance to its own.
Yesterday the videogame consortium ELSPA unveiled the proposed PEGI colour-coded age-rating system that would use “clear and easy” symbols to illustrate the content of videogames that carry them.
The BBFC, however, believes such a system is around already. “Our classification symbols have been colour-coded since 1982. They’re very widely recognised, and in fact they are trademark and copyright protected,” a company spokesperson told Edge.
“We’re happy for ELSPA to make sensible improvements, but not if they encroach on the protection of the BBFC’s symbols. We have these symbols using colours, using circles and using numbers, so we are now taking legal advice.”
The BBFC added that it has challenged numerous organisations before who have “tried to exploit the recognisability of the BBFC symbols”.