Requirements from Partners
Movies Released Before 01 August 2021
For movies released before August 1st, 2021, the former rating values are supported.
Partners shall provide:
- Rating value
- Rating reasons (if rating reason is not available ‘Not Applicable' value should be provided in the MEC section. For details see Table 4.)
- Please see Table 1 for accepted rating reasons.
- Please see Table 1 for accepted rating reasons.
Acceptable rating values in metadata
| Rating value as it appears on the storefront | Rating value to be referenced in the metadata |
|---|---|
|
G |
G |
|
PG |
PG |
|
M |
M |
|
13 |
13 |
|
16 |
16 |
|
18 |
18 |
|
R13 |
R13 |
|
R15 |
R15 |
|
R16 |
R16 |
|
R18 |
R18 |
|
RP13 |
RP13 |
|
RP16 |
RP16 |
|
RP18 |
RP18 |
|
R |
R |
|
Unrated |
UNRATED |
Movies Released on or after 01 August 2021
The below is the new ratings regulation for all movie titles with a release date as of Aug 1, 2021. Partners need to provide:
- Rating value
- Rating reasons (if rating reason is not available ‘Not Applicable' value should be provided in the MEC section. For details see Table 4.)
Please see Table 1 for accepted rating reasons.
|
Rating Value |
Rating Description |
Rating Reasons |
|
G |
G - Suitable for General Audiences |
|
|
PG |
PG - Parental Guidance recommended for younger viewers |
|
|
M |
M - Suitable for mature audiences |
|
|
13 |
Unsuitable for audiences under 13 years of age |
|
|
16 |
Unsuitable for audiences under 16 years of age |
|
|
18 |
Unsuitable for audiences under 18 years of age |
|
|
R13 |
Restricted to 13 years and over |
|
|
R16 |
Restricted to 16 years and over |
|
|
R18 |
Restricted to 18 years and over |
|
R |
Restricted |
|
Table 1 - Rating Reasons
- Adult themes
- Animal cruelty
- Bullying
- Coarse language
- Content that may disturb
- Cruelty
- Dangerous behavior
- Domestic violence
- Drug references
- Explicit sex scenes
- Graphic violence
- Horror
- Nudity
- Offensive language
- Rape
- Scary scenes
- Self-harm
- Sex scenes
- Sexual themes
- Sexual violence
- Sexual violence themes
- Suicide
- Suicide themes
- Supernatural themes
- Violence
- Other
Table 2 - Release Date
|
Definition |
XML example for how this is referenced in the MEC |
|
Release Year - the year a title was earliest released in a territory. |
<md:ReleaseYear>2009</md:ReleaseYear> <md:ReleaseDate>2009-02-06</md:ReleaseDate> <md:WorkType>movie</md:WorkType> |
Table 3 - MEC examples
|
MEC example of old rating regulations |
MEC example of new rating regulations |
|
<md:Rating> <md:Region> <md:country>NZ</md:country> </md:Region> <md:System>OFLC</md:System> <md:Value>RP16</md:Value> </md:Rating> |
<md:Rating> <md:Region> <md:country>NZ</md:country> </md:Region> <md:System>OFLC</md:System> <md:Value>R16</md:Value> <md:Reason>Violence</md:Reason> <md:Reason>Coarse Language</md:Reason> </md:Rating> |
Table 4 - MEC options to reference rating reason
|
MEC options to reference rating reason |
Explanation |
|
<md:Reason>Violence</md:Reason> |
Single reason, as per NZ list |
|
<md:Reason>VIOLENCE</md:Reason> |
Single reason in caps, as per NZ list |
|
No reason provided |
No reason xml snippet |
| <md:Reason>Not Applicable</md:Reason> | Starting from March 1st 2023, any title without a valid rating reason needs to explicitly include Not Applicable in the MEC tag <md:Reason>. |
Self-rated content
If the NZ Classification Office has not rated a movie, partners may provide self-assigned ratings and rating reasons for it using a self-ratings tool approved by the NZ Chief Censor. Partners are responsible for any notifications to the NZ Classification Office regarding self-rated movies, as well as any updates to ratings and rating reasons if the NZ Classification Office issues a rating label.