19 year old arrested for recording 20 second movie clip at Regal Cinema
By: Lucy | August 3, 2007
19 year old Jhannet Sejas was arrested after she recorded a 20 second movie clip from the Transformers movie. The clip was to show her little brother. Now, Jhannet faces up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine.
The Washington Post reported that Sejas was celebrating her 19th birthday when two police officers arrived, “I was terrified,” said Sejas, her voice breaking. “I was crying. I’ve never been in trouble before.”
Apparently, the assistant manager of the theatre saw her holding up the Canon Power Shot and reported it to the general manager who then proceeded to call the police.
Sejas had no intention of selling the 20 second clip, and I’m pretty sure no one would want to buy it. It’s not the MPAA that are to blame for this absurdness, the Regal Cinemas Ballston Common 12 decided to prosecute the case.
This is totally ridiculous, so much so that /film have urged everyone to boycott the cinema until they reverse their decision. Their “Zero-tolerance policy and the theatre level” is laughable! If Jhannet wanted the clip of Transformers for financial gain then it would be easier for her to download it off Bit Torrent than to take the trip to her local multiplex!
Cindy Cohn, general counsel for the Electronic Frontier Foundation said, “The movie industry needs to recognize that their audience isn’t the enemy,”
Too right! There is no way Jhannet should get a permanent record and go to jail for something as petty as this. Surely the police and/or movie industry should try to catch those who download movies off the internet for financial gain and stop wasting time on silly things like this?
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