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').

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.

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 aftermath of this case, local authorities across the country began to censor the content of films, using their licensing powers under the 1909 Act.

This concerned the film industry, which was worried that inconsistent censorship policies would undermine it: under this ad hoc system, a film-maker had no way of knowing the size of his potential market (i.e. how many authorities would allow or ban his film), and cinema owners in areas with strict censorship policies would suffer financially compared to those in more liberal towns.