It is now against the law to take a camcorder into a movie theater to record what's on the screen. I absolutely sympathize with those trying to stop piracy of copyrighted materials but I wonder if this is as big a problem as the studios make it out to be. I'm sure it happens somewhere but, knowing that an authorized, quality DVD or tape of a new movie will be out in a month or three for under twenty bucks, do people really rush out to buy a bootleg shot from a hand-held camcorder in the balcony? Really? I can't think of a movie I've ever wanted to watch so badly that I couldn't wait a few months until it's on DirecTV or the DVD is released.
Like I said, I'm sure it happens…but my spider-sense suspects that it doesn't happen as often as the studios claim; that they're groping to make film piracy look like an "outside job" when in fact, a lot of it emanates from sources much closer to home. Back when the Betamax was new and studio execs were swearing under oath that they could not have their movies available on tape (even authorized releases) without it destroying the motion picture industry, there was a lot of denial. They spun stories that Film Piracy was mainly achieved by larcenous individuals breaking into vaults, sneaking out prints and surreptitiously transferring films to tape for bootlegging purposes. In truth, most of those same execs were having the movies in question transferred to tape so they could watch them in their homes or offices, and those transfers were getting duped on the sly and traded for other movies.
I have no first-hand knowledge that this is what's happening here. But if I were in charge of security at a big motion picture studio and someone yelled at me that their just-released movie was being sold illegally on tape, I might not want to investigate that one too closely. It might be easier for me to say, "Gee, someone must have snuck a camcorder into a screening," than to start rooting around, exposing someone in my company who was possibly involved. Of course, this is just speculation on my part.
I also wonder if anyone is going to make one of those "citizen's arrests" mentioned in the article. Wouldn't it make more sense for the studios to ask patrons merely to report if they see anyone taping the movie, and then contractually require the theater to prosecute, or at least eject anyone who commits this heinous crime? I'm sure the contracts between distributor and exhibitor already require that the latter not permit the film to be copied in any way, and that's how this should be handled. If I were in a theater and I spotted someone lifting wallets or beating up a nun, I'd rush to stop them. But if I witnessed a copyright violation in progress, assuming it wasn't my copyright being violated, I think the most I'd do is go out and tell an usher. And then if they didn't do anything, I'd figure the exhibitor doesn't feel it's worth stopping so why should I? Maybe if theft-by-camcorder is a genuine problem, the movie studios need to crack down on the theaters that aren't stopping it, rather than expect the public to play Kojak and arrest people.