This is a tough one. Here’s the story from the Washington Post… I’ll give my thoughts further down:
Jhannet Sejas and her boyfriend were celebrating her 19th birthday by taking in a matinee showing of the hit movie “Transformers” at the theater at Ballston Common mall.
Sejas was enjoying the movie so much that she decided to film a short clip of the sci-fi adventure’s climax to get her little brother hyped to go see it. Minutes later, two Arlington County police officers were pointing their flashlights at the young couple in the darkened theater and ordering them out. They confiscated the digital camera as evidence and charged Sejas, a Marymount University sophomore and Annandale resident, with a crime: illegally recording a motion picture.
Sejas faces up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $2,500 when she goes to trial this month in the July 17 incident. Arlington police spokesman John Lisle said it was the decision of Regal Cinemas Ballston Common 12 to prosecute the case, a first for Arlington police.
Wow… ok… there are a couple of things about this story that have to be considered before jumping to any opinion:
1) She knowingly broke the law.
I’ve always said that the way to fight piracy is not to persecute teenagers at home downloading “The Girl Next Door”, but rather to step up efforts against those who do the actual pirating by stealing screener discs or filming in the theaters. The girl is 19, she’s not 5. She damn well knows pulling out a recording device and filming a movie is against the law, doesn’t matter if it’s 2 hours or 2 seconds. She decided to do it anyway. She got busted. No tears for her from me.
2) If they don’t prosecute, what message does that send?
The theater here is in a really difficult position. They’re trying like crazy to fight piracy. Here they are now… they caught a person red handed pulling out a recording device and filming part of the movie. It’s cut and dry… she’s guilty. So what message is the theater sending if they DON’T press charges? What use is having a law if it’s not enforced? Doesn’t that actually encourage piracy?
3) Lindsay and Paris threaten people’s lives and walk
I’m sorry… but there is something seriously fucked up if a person gets caught drinking and driving… putting EVERYONES life at risk on the road, and get nothing, while this girl could get a year in prison for recording someone say “autobots, we must retrieve the all spark before Megatron” Yeah, she’s a real threat to society. Where is the balance here?
So here are my thoughts. The girl SHOULD be charged. Sorry… she knowingly broke the law, she got busted. Laws are there to act as a deterrent. How much of a deterrent is it if they catch someone and do nothing about it? At the same time, the idea that she could get a year in jail seems beyond excessive to me… so something needs to be done about that.
My friend Peter over at Slashfilm has a totally different opinion than mine. He believes that the Theater is totally wrong and that people should Boycott Regal Cinemas unless they drop the charges. Many people agree with him. Me personally, I think they MUST charge her… and there is no one to blame here but the girl herself. She made this situation, and now Regal is in a tricky spot with how to deal with it. Maybe I’m wrong.
I want to know what YOU guys think about this? Who is at fault here? What should be done?
