'New Moon' taping may put woman in prison

[The Minx]

Link

(CNN) -- A birthday celebration that culminated in a trip to catch the blockbuster movie "The Twilight Saga: New Moon" could land 22-year-old Samantha Tumpach in prison for three years.

The Chicago, Illinois-area woman captured three minutes of the film on her videocamera while taping part of her sister's surprise party at a Muvico theater in Rosemont.

Theater managers contacted police, who arrested Tumpach. She spent two days in jail. Now she faces a felony charge of illegally copying a movie.

"The motion picture industry has encouraged theater owners to adopt a 'zero-tolerance' policy prohibiting the video or audio recording of any portion of a movie," Muvico Entertainment, which oversees the theater, told HLN's "Prime News."

Attempts to reach Tumpach and any representation were unsuccessful.

Piracy has been an ongoing issue for the motion picture industry. The Motion Picture Association of America estimates that illegal piracy costs its business billions of dollars every year. Muvico said the group believes that hidden cameras in theaters are the direct source of more than 90 percent of all pirated movies.

Still, CNN legal analyst Lisa Bloom said three years appears excessive for the incident, if it should be prosecuted at all.

Illinois state law is fairly broad on this subject, she said, and she believes that "it's a ridiculous distortion of the law to prosecute this young woman, who recorded only a few minutes of the film as part of a birthday video."

Experts say the MPAA, and by extension Summit Entertainment, which produced "New Moon," walks a fine line with cases like this.

Kelli Gillespie, an entertainment reporter for the CW, says the movie industry is trying to avoid a similar situation to what the music industry faced with illegal downloads and is trying to work with "ever-changing technology that's available to so many consumers without alienating their fan base."

What happens now? Muvico Entertainment says it's up to local police to determine Tumpach's future.

However, the MPAA or Summit Entertainment may want to step in to assist a fan, Gillespie says. It's in their best interest, she said, "to figure out a way where you aren't punishing the consumer."

Disproportionate punishment like this is so retarded.

[frigidmagi]

Experts say the MPAA, and by extension Summit Entertainment, which produced "New Moon," walks a fine line with cases like this.

Fine line? Seriously? This isn't a fine line, this is bullshit. Paranoid overreacting bullshit that has been utterly and completely ineffective in actually stopping the pirating of movies. Hell for all the pressure that the studios put on the theaters alot of these movies end up on bit torrent before we get them.

[General Havoc]

I've never watched or even SEEN a pirated movie derived from a video-recording in a theatre. Such footage would be of abysmal quality.

[frigidmagi]

At this point I'm pretty sure rules like this aren't about stopping or even slowing down piracy but about intimation and control. My thought is these rules and laws are pushed by the Entertainment Businesses (RIAA, Movie Studios, etc) as a means of allowing them to punish, coerce and intimidate the public into playing by their rules at all costs.

I'm also very sure given sites like Youtube, Hulu and rampant piracy that has been frankly socially legitimatize that it isn't working at all.

[B4UTRUST]

Welcome to America under our Motion Picture Ass. of America overlords. Along with the RI Ass. of America.

Actually, while it seems excessive to anyone with common sense and logic, anyone who has followed any of the trials and precedents set in them have seen that both of the Ass(es) will go for every dime you get and as long in prison as they can make you serve. It's all complete bullshit of course. Crappy movies, crap actors, no plots and other misc. reasons that Hollywood films produce utter shit are the reason attendance is down, not piracy.

Seriously? Billions? Billions. Bullshit. And no, cameras are not 90% of the problem. 90% of the problem comes from overseas Russian, Hong Kong, etc releases of the movies where they send out the copies early for release in a DVD quality format and lo and behold, someone puts two and two together and rips the DVD and uploads it to the net. Then all someone has to do is go to a theater with a listening impaired audio jack and jack in an audio cord to either their camera, cellphone or whatever recording device they want and then they have crystal clear direct-line telesync audio of the movie to dub onto the dvd quality film and now you have a DVD quality english copy that never was touched by a camera... A full week before the US premiere.

I would find it hard to believe that a judge would find this woman guilty here, or that a jury would either. But then again I've been proven wrong before...

Oh, and Havoc - Cam quality copies vary greatly between releasing group and can range freely between a 1-Unwatachable and a 8-Very clear, very watchable with the audio running the same range. Never seen a cam I would rate as a 9 or 10 as those I reserve for DVD screeners and DVD rips. It all depends on the lighting, the equipment and the recorder.

Not that I have ever watched a CAM in my life nor ever willfully or unwillfully downloaded, viewed, partook or witnessed the loading of said copies of unsaid movies. All statements are made for educational purposes only. No illegal activities have been committed in the gaining of this education. Do not try this at home. Consult your physician before using.