Woman is Jailed for Accidentally Recording New Moon

Thems copyright laws are pretty stiff and fines and punishment are often higher than far more serious issues like rape or holocaust. Well when a woman brought her camera into the theater to film the big reveal of a surprise party (apparently held at the theater) who accidentally filmed some of Twilight’s New Moon, and found herself arrested.

Worst Previews says:

She was grabbed by a theater worker, who saw her shooting video during the movie. Managers contacted police, who examined the camera, finding that the woman had taped “two very short segments.”

The theater managers insisted on pressing charges, which resulted in the woman being arrested and spending two nights in jail before being released. She plans to fight the felony charges in court because she says she did nothing wrong — and certainly didn’t try to secretly tape the movie. “It was never my intention to record the movie,” she said.

I would be sympathetic to her issue if it wasn’t for the fact that they were filming them popping the surprise, and singing Happy Birthday.

Presumably if this happened before the film started, then they would not be able to have “accidentally” caught New Moon on the screen in the background. And if they did, remember that there is a special hell for those who talk during the movie, and I wouldn’t appreciate a rousing round of Happy Birthday during the movie.

So while she didn’t attempt to record the movie, she did in fact record some of it. She might get some leniancy for her intent, but if she didn’t disrupt the film to record the birthday surprise, this never would have happened.

Remember kids… Piracy is bad, even unintentional. And don’t disrupt the movie.

Ever.

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29 thoughts on “Woman is Jailed for Accidentally Recording New Moon

  1. I think it is fair that she gets punished for taping “New Moon”, but also they can’t punish her for too long since what she did was unintentional and things like this happen all the time. We can’t pay the consequences for the rest of our lives for something we did unintentionally.

  2. I don’t see what the big deal is? The whole thing to me sounds like a big misunderstanding. The only thing she actually did wrong was video taping in the theater. If it was a private party it makes even less sense for the manager to have pressed charges. I mean if I rent out the theater for a birthday screening of a movie and it is a “surprise” party for someone, as long as the theater staff is made aware of this this whole thing should have been avoided!

  3. She didn’t use a video camera. She used a digital still camera capable or recording only a few minutes of video. The limitations of the camera itself are enough to cast doubt on intent.

  4. I find this post to be very interesting and entertaining considering that my copyright law final is 3 days away. ( I mean 2 days now that I see it is past midnight here at the library) Intent to or not to infringe copyrighted materials doesn’t matter in copyright law. Lack of intent to infringe and lack of knowledge of the material being copyrighted are not defenses. Although they can affect the momentary amount awarded to the plaintiff and/or punitive actions taken against the defendant. To infringe, an infringer must fix all or part of the copyrighted work in a material object in a manner that is sufficiently permanent or stable to permit the work to be perceived, reproduced, or otherwise communicated for a period of more than transitory duration. I would like to know how much of the movie was recorded and whether or not it recorded as a background to a birthday celebration or if she was actually pointing the camera at only the screen. Sorry if this doesn’t make any sense, its late.

  5. Where’s the argument here? First, no one (here) knows what was taped or for how long. We don’t know her “intent” or details of the situation. We can misconstrue too many aspects and lay fault or claim bloody murder and still be way off in our assessment.

    The only thing that is for sure is that she did tape segments of the movie. How long or the reason behind the catching of the flick on her video can only be determined by watching the clips she recorded.

    Is she stupid? Possibly. Is she innocent? Possibly. Is there anyone who has ALL the details for us to come to the right conclusion? Probably not, or at least, not yet. I say she’ll get convicted, but with some misdemeanor charge.

  6. It is illegal to shoot video in the theater, however, I have never actually seen this law enforced. I was in management at a theater a few years back, and we caught a teen intentionally recording a movie. We called the cops, but they basically told him not to do it again and let him go. When I insisted it was a felony, they acted like they had never heard of such a thing. At least they gave us the tape, so we could destroy it.

  7. I agree the whole situation is stupid and that the theatre shouldn’t have pressed the issue if it was a surprise party.

    BUT it’s not like she’s going to lose in court. The prosecution has to PROVE intent.

    Since she didn’t intend to film the movie, she’ll most likely get time served for her time in jail.

  8. “it’s something that has gone on forever and will continue to…so you goody goody wannabes should just deal with it”

    Thats like saying, “Why have laws when people will get mugged anyway? Just deal with it”

  9. I don’t know about other places but you can rent out a theater in my area for birthday parties and celebrations. They will play up to 3 movies of your choice. So since we don’t know if she disrupted the movie for anyone else. Since we don’t know if they did in fact rent out the theater.

    I find this to be absolutely ridiculous. She obviously wasn’t there to tape the movie and the tape clearly shows this. Just because she caught the film on cam twice does not make her a pirate. This is almost as bad as someone suing because they spilled hot coffee on themselves from mcdonalds.

    1. “someone suing because they spilled hot coffee on themselves from mcdonalds.”

      Oh, they have. And theres even pussier cases as well. Its ridiculous.

      If someone illegally mindfucks me into killing my dad, ill sue. Thats it.

      I had a huge party last year, and this guy gets in a fight with a friend of mine, and my friend destroys him in my patio but gets hurt as well.
      The fucker was going to sue ME! (not my friend, ME) because im the home owner

      He started the fight. He fights my friend. He loses.
      And he almost sued me?

      1. Welcome to your broken legal system.

        Did you know in Canada if you try to sue McDonalds for spilling your own coffee on your lap, the judge will call you stupid to your face and tell you to stop wasting lawyers’ time.

        Just sayin.

        What she did is illegal, and she was charged for it under that law. I know it wasn’t her intent, which they may take into consideration – but its still illegal even if you dont want it to be.

      2. Yeah I live in Florida hehehe

        I love it here though im not complaining.

        In Canada you cant chill in the beach shirtless! Your nipples would snap off!

        If ever i have health problems ill just make a 3 day drive to Canada and go to their hospitals

      3. James, you cant just drive here to use our Hospitals. You still need to be a Canadian citizen or you get charged for the services.

        I get charged if I cannot present my Health Card.

        That being said, I am jealous of your milder temperatures, but I despise humidity. Id summer here and winter there if I could!

      4. Rodney, yeah a Canadian judge would laugh you out of court if you sued McD’s when you spilled hot coffee on yourself. That’s why in Canada we would make it into a human rights issue instead. Like when that woman brought McD’s to the Human Rights Commission won $50k and the right not to wash her hands after going to the bathroom: http://ezralevant.com/2008/04/the-human-right-for-mcdonalds.html

        Our system is just as messed up as theirs… if not, more so…

    2. I remember the mcdonld’s lawsuit. I see so many ads on newspapers and internet with lawyers that are saying if you slipped and fell, uneven ground, potholes, etc… and they even say you can go as far as suing the city? it’s pathetic how people are willing to do anything for a quick buck.

    3. Actually the McDonald’s coffee spilling is commonly misused as an example of a petty lawsuit. In the case, the McDonald’s had repeatedly been told by the police that their coffee was too hot. Plus, the woman received third-degree burns from the coffee. That coffee was definitely wayyy too hot, and that is definitely the fault of the McDonald’s.

      1. Way too hot is not McDonalds fault. The cup has a warning telling you its hot and to be cautious. That it was stupid hot is irrelevant, they warned you it was hot.

        McDonalds paid off the retard (settled out of court) to make her go away because the frivous lawsuit was giving them bad press and in the end the woman is commonly referred to as the petty one and McDonalds is not viewed as the badguy.

        Its not “commonly misused”. It is accurately referenced when people are too stupid to read and hurt themselves despite warnings and find some way of getting money for it.

        They were not “told by police” as there is no law against hot coffee, and there is no standard by which coffee is considered too hot (even “normal hot” coffee can burn skin quite seriously)

        McDonalds was not at fault and law schools frequently use this to illustrate effective out of court settlements.

  10. Yeah…I wonder who would think this would be appropriate? Bringing a camera into a theater without clearing it with the theater first? Doesn’t take a genius to realize this is not appropriate behavior. I hope her appeal fails miserably.

    1. She made a mistake. Jail time and a felony is a bit harsh considering the fact that the crime at question is copyright infringement. Think about it… Who would she sell a bootleg copy of New Moon to as long as it has a kids birthday party in the foreground and the movie in the background? It is a simple mistake that she should have, at best, been thrown out of the theater for.

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