Here's something to think about. According to the Sun-Times this morning, a 22-year-old Chicago woman could face three years in prison for taping part of the new Twilight movie in a Rosemont theatre.
The Sun-Times reports she was arrested, and jailed for two nights until she could appear in bond court, for the offense of Criminal Use of a Motion Picture Exhibition. It's a Class 4 felony in Illinois and also an Intellectual Property crime under federal law.
The woman in this case claims she didn't intend to video the movie but was shooting her sister's birthday celebration while trying out a new camera. The Sun-Times reports police found about three minutes of video on the camera, including trailer footage.
Maybe she didn't intend to do anything with what she shot other than show her friends. Maybe she didn't plan to put any of the Twilight film up online, say on YouTube for example. Maybe her intentions were, indeed, innocent.
Maybe.
But, according to the Library of Congress,in an article written to assess the reason for federal legislation, "This misuse of camcorders is a significant factor in the estimated $3.5 billion in annual losses the movie industry suffers because of hard-goods piracy."
The Library of Congress article continues, "Causing greater financial harm, these camcorded versions are posted on the Internet through certain peer-to-peer networks and made available for millions of users to download. According to studies by the Motion Picture Association of America (`MPAA'), camcorded versions of movies in theatrical release account for more than 90 percent of the first copies of motion pictures illegally distributed on the Internet."
My guess is the Chicago woman will be allowed to plea-bargain the charge down to a misdemeanor but the motion picture industry is taking a tough stance against this kind of crime. They may insist that prosecutors take the case to trial. The evidence will be the video she shot...how much of the movie and the trailer she captured.
If convicted, will she spend time in prison? Probably not. Will she have to pay a fine? Undoubtedly. In fact, if she's found guilty, I hope she has to pay until it hurts.
Bottom line: if you steal any copyrighted work, be it the manual I prepared for a college class I taught several years ago (I caught the university planning to use it for another class taught by someone else), a fiction novel, an entire textbook "because it's so expensive" to buy, or video of a first-run movie, it is no more ethical than stealing from a store.
It is theft. It's a crime. And there should be a significant and very public punishment.
1 comment:
Yeah, except she wasn't "taping the movie" - she was, as you note, taping a birthday party which was held at the theater. The cops flat out got this one wrong (gee, that's a first); fortunately, the prosecutors got it right.
In any case, the "motion picture industry" is not in a position to "insist" that prosecutors do anything. Prosecutors represent the interests of the people and serve justice; they do not represent any particular private entity.
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