US copyright gestapo jails woman for filming birthday party at movie theater

[Syt]

Woman arrested for trying to record 'Twilight' on digital camera

Taping three minutes of "Twilight: New Moon" during a visit to a Rosemont movie theater landed Samantha Tumpach in a jail cell for two nights.

Now, the 22-year-old Chicago woman faces up to three years in prison after being charged with a rarely invoked felony designed to prevent movie patrons from recording hot new movies and selling bootleg copies.

But Tumpach insisted Wednesday that's not what she was doing — she was actually taping parts of her sister's surprise birthday party celebrated at the Muvico Theater in Rosemont.

While she acknowledged there are short bits of the movie on her digital camera, there are other images that have nothing to do with the new film — including she and a few other family members singing "Happy Birthday" to her 29-year-old sister at the theater.

"It was a big thing over nothing," Tumpach said of her Saturday afternoon arrest. "We were just messing around. Everyone is so surprised it got this far."

She was nabbed when a worker saw her shooting video during the movie, Rosemont police said.

Managers contacted police, who examined the small digital camera, which also records video segments, Cmdr. Frank Siciliano said. Officers found that Tumpach had taped "two very short segments" of the movie — no more than four minutes total, he said.

Tumpach was arrested after theater managers insisted on pressing charges, he said. She was charged with criminal use of a motion picture exhibition. She remained jailed for two nights in Rosemont's police station until being taken to bond court on Monday, where a Cook County judge ordered her released on a personal recognizance bond that didn't require her to post any cash.

Rosemont police, though, seemed to sympathize with her situation, she said. "They were so nice to me," she said.

Tumpach insisted she recorded no more than three minutes while in the theater — and said not all of the video she shot was of the movie. There's footage of she and her relatives singing to her sister, she said. "We sang 'Happy Birthday' to her in the theater," Tumpach said.

She also took pictures of family members in the theater before the film began, but an usher who saw the photo session never issued them a warning, Tumpach said.

As ads and previews ran on the big screen, she fiddled with the camera — which she got in July and is still learning how to work — and was surprised to see it took clear videos of the screen.

The footage she shot also includes the pre-film commercials, as well as her talking about the camera and the movie.

"You can hear me talking the whole time," Tumpach said.

She plans to fight in court the felony filed against her because she said she did nothing wrong — and certainly didn't try to secretly tape the movie.

"It was never my intention to record the movie," she said.

I hope the thread title is hyperbolic enough for the AmeriKKKa haters out there.

My opinion:
1. The chick is stupid. Most theaters make a point that you shouldn't film on their premises.
2. The theater owner's knee jerk reaction (probably fearing to appear weak on copyright violations and possibly getting "blacklisted" or whatever) is just as stupid.

[KRonn]

Lol, this will teach people not to mess with the movie industry!!

Heh, maybe she was taping the movie, and would edit the film to remove the birthday party stuff later. However, I tend to believe her story, at least at first.

[PDH]

She should be shot.

[Ed Anger]

The footage she shot also includes the pre-film commercials, as well as her talking about the camera and the movie.

"You can hear me talking the whole time," Tumpach said.

Bitch.

[Mr.Penguin]

She should be shot.

Hanged, nothing worse that having downloaded a copy from the internet, only to have a birthday party ruin half the movie. Almost as bad as having people in the background loudly discuss the movie in chinese...

[DontSayBanana]

My money's on dismissal without prejudice and the theater management's "taking a stand" is going to blow up in their faces in the form of extremely bad and humiliating press.

[Neil]

My money's on dismissal without prejudice and the theater management's "taking a stand" is going to blow up in their faces in the form of extremely bad and humiliating press.

But they'll probably get a medal from the MPAA, an organization that doesn't care in the slightest about bad press.

[DontSayBanana]

But they'll probably get a medal from the MPAA, an organization that doesn't care in the slightest about bad press.

Clients that pay good money to lawyers, but suck ass overall.

[grumbler]

Most theaters make a point that you shouldn't film on their premises.

Not sure "most" do.  I haven't seen one do so.

I agree with those who think the theater just fucked up big time.  In these days when theaters are already hard-pressed to stay afloat because they don't offer unique services anymore, the last thing they need is to give people another reason to stay home.

"Honey, do you want to go to the theater and risk being jailed for the weekend, or just wait until this comes out on DVD?"

[grumbler]

But they'll probably get a medal from the MPAA, an organization that doesn't care in the slightest about bad press.

Medals don't pay wages or rent.

[Syt]

Not sure "most" do.  I haven't seen one do so.

Well, the multiplexes here often point out during the commercials and trailers that filming and use of portable filming devices is prohibited.

[grumbler]

Well, the multiplexes here often point out during the commercials and trailers that filming and use of portable filming devices is prohibited.

The ones here haven't gotten to that point yet.  Not to say that they won't.  I will consider it a race to see which happens first: they go out of business, or get around to the anti-camera announcements.

[Darth Wagtaros]

Most theaters make a point that you shouldn't film on their premises.

Not sure "most" do.  I haven't seen one do so.

I agree with those who think the theater just fucked up big time.  In these days when theaters are already hard-pressed to stay afloat because they don't offer unique services anymore, the last thing they need is to give people another reason to stay home.

"Honey, do you want to go to the theater and risk being jailed for the weekend, or just wait until this comes out on DVD?"

I don't see it emphasized much either.  These people must be nuts. 

[bogh]

grumbler, I think you're somewhat off here - movie theatres are, on average, doing pretty good. Revenues are at worst stagnant, which is pretty good in a recession that tends to depress spending on going out. IIRC 2008 was a record year for movie theatres.

I wouldn't sit around waiting for cinemas to go broke - though local conditions may differ somewhat.

The biggest threat is clearly the erosion of release-windows, but so far earnings on movies heavily pirated have held up in cinemas, but sufferred badly in DVD-sales. That indicates that going to a movie gives you more than an early peak - and that home cinema is still far off producing the same experience - even if you take the social aspect and cultural tradition out of it.

[DontSayBanana]

Not sure "most" do.  I haven't seen one do so.

I agree with those who think the theater just fucked up big time.  In these days when theaters are already hard-pressed to stay afloat because they don't offer unique or economical services anymore, the last thing they need is to give people another reason to stay home.

"Honey, do you want to go to the theater and risk being jailed for the weekend, or just wait until this comes out on DVD?"

FYPFY.  Have you seen the price of snacks, candy, and drinks at a movie theater lately?  The Regal-14 down the street from me has been getting slaughtered since the Delsea Drive-In reopened a couple years ago with cheaper food that gets made at the theater itself.  Then again, they've shown the markup to be so bad that it's pretty embarrassing.

At the drive-in, it's $8 a person for two, sometimes three movies.  Nachos, pretzels, popcorn, and drinks are all under $2, and since they're outfitted to make their own food, you can also go a little early and get dinner.  At the "typical" theater up the street, it's $9.75 a head for one person.  Snacks and drinks start around the $2 mark, and they wonder why they've been losing business.