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Camcorder federal law which came in to effect from April to criminalise the use of any sort of video camera in a theatre has seen its first use with the arrest of a Missouri man. This person, aged 19, filmed the showing of "The Perfect Man" and "Bewitched" using a camcorder and sold copies over the Internet for online transfer according to the Justice Department.
Besides unlawfully uploading these two movies, he also unlawfully downloaded various movie and software titles. As a result, he has been charged for two violations of the new camcorder law along with copyright infringement and conspiracy and can face up to 17 years in prison.
A movie industry trade group recons that 90% of all movies still in theatres start from a camcorder. While this is the first charge for the breach of the camcorder law, the Justice department has previously performed raids across various countries on networks that share movies online.
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Curtis Salisbury, 19, used a camcorder to make copies of recent releases "The Perfect Man" and "Bewitched" and then distributed them through illicit computer networks that specialize in piracy, the Justice Department said. A law that took effect in April prohibits such behavior. Salisbury also downloaded several movies and software programs from the computer network, the Justice Department said. Salisbury, who faces up to 17 years in prison, could not be reached for comment. |
Despite how controversial this law appeared at first such as with the introduction of it into California, so far there is no news about people being sued for bringing in camera phones or digital cameras (which capture movie clips) into the cinema. Then again, chances are that many consumers would not risk doing so and camera phones would not be seen as a big enough threat to result in arrests.
Source: c|net News - Business & Legal
