Man Busted Under New Movie Piracy Law

Moviegoer Caught Videotaping "Transformers" Could Face Up To 6 Months Prison And $5,000 Fine

(CBS)  A moviegoer caught secretly recording the sci-fi blockbuster “Transformers” has been charged with unauthorized use of a video camera in a theater in the first arrest under a new New York City law that stiffened penalties for pirating films.

A criminal complaint accuses Kalidou Diallo of slipping a video recorder, video player and remote control into a sneak preview of the film at a Bronx theater on Monday night.

“This is the first time someone has been arrested and charged with the new illegal camcording law,” City Hall spokesman Jason Post said Thursday.

In May, Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed legislation that upgraded film piracy from a violation with a $250 fine to a misdemeanor that carries up to six months in jail and penalties of up to $5,000.

The Motion Picture Association of America says more than 40 percent of bootlegged films are secretly videotaped in New York City theaters. The copies typically are sold for mass reproduction or posted on the Internet, sometimes just hours after the movie has opened.

Pirated movies cost major U.S. film studios more than $6 billion in 2005, according to the trade association. A study by the group showed that the New York movie industry loses an estimated $1.5 billion a year because of piracy, and the local economy suffers further with lost earnings, tax revenue and jobs.

Police arrested Diallo, 48, after a plainclothes officer seated behind him while staking out the theater saw him raise his right arm after the film began, court papers said. During a search shortly after the movie ended, police found a video recorder “strapped underneath his right arm via a body harness” and a video player and remote control in his jacket pockets, the papers added.

Diallo was released on Tuesday without bail and ordered to return to court on Sept. 20. No telephone number was listed for his Bronx address, and the name of his lawyer was not immediately available.

“Transformers” broke box-office records on its official opening day Tuesday, taking in $27.4 million to set a new high for Tuesday openings.

The movie — based on the Hasbro toys that debuted in the 1980s — chronicles a war between two factions of giant shape-shifting robots that bring their battle to Earth. The cast includes Shia LaBeouf, Tyrese Gibson, Jon Voight, Josh Duhamel and John Turturro.

[klingon69]

I think its weird that some people are so cheap, they would rather watch an amateur videotape on their television of a film they have been looking forward to seeing, then paying for the real-deal.
Posted by djberson at 11:49 AM : Jul 06, 2007
I rarely go to theaters. I don't like crowds. I usually rent or buy a movie if I think it is worth seeing. However, in my case, these copied films are used to determine whether or not I want to buy the movie. I laid out alot of ducketts for movies that were mediocre at best, and of course once they are open, you can't return them.
My wife at one time used to work in video rental, on Friday before the movie came out on DVD, we could take the movie home and watch it. That was also supposed to be illegal. How about those screener movies, the ones that go from color to B/W a few times, or have the disclaimer scrolling across the bottom? I have bought several of those at yardsales, flea markets, second hand stores, and even at pawnshops. That also is illegal.

[ianlou]

It is amazing how low some lazy people will stoop to avoid getting a real job.
Posted by phineasgage1 at 12:14 PM : Jul 06, 2007

This guy reminds me of the comic store owner on the Simpsons,

Get a Life.

[phineasgage1]

It is amazing how low some lazy people will stoop to avoid getting a real job.

[Syndicate]

I thought Copyrights were the responsibility of congress. I have some doubt if the New York Law is constitutional. Anyways some one should pass a "movie consumer protection bill" to protect us from the movie people. I went and saw Transformers on the fourth. It was good, but I took my wife and three small children. It ran me about $75. For five tickets five sodas and a bucket of popcorn. Was the movie worth it? No, but watching the kids enjoy it was.

[djberson]

I think its weird that some people are so cheap, they would rather watch an amateur videotape on their television of a film they have been looking forward to seeing, then paying for the real-deal.

[poradicus]

Ooops that was for Lochan, sorry brianbwb, all i seen wasyour name so i assumed that u said brianbwb- I disagree with you, theft is theft and a theif is a theif no matter what. Where are you in this picture?

[poradicus]

To Brainbwb
You are one silly idiot. Superbowl on tv is free and yes the MPAA doesn't go after that. Now video tapping in a movie at a theater is a different story. God your going on and on about nothing, hey why don't you get rid of your internet so we can save ourselves from hearing ignorance, that piracy to me..

[brianbwb-2009]

to gunnerv1,

Any dispute over whether or not you owe money should be a civil matter, not criminal, no one should be going to "debtor's prison", in the America of the founders there was no such concept, this was on purpose to keep people from misusing law to incarcerate innocents, and extort money from their families. Criminalization of civil matters is unconstitutional.

[brianbwb-2009]

to gunnerv1,
"theft is theft and a theif is a theif no matter what. Where are you in this picture?"

I am against letting people arbitrarily redefine something as theft, that in the history of common law was never considered to be so before a few rich industry types paid to have the term redefined by the government.

Using their logic (and apparently yours) you buy a car, pay full price for it, but if your wife, son, of friend drives it they also have to pay the auto company full price for it, otherwise it is theft.

If you ever had a few friends over to watch the Super Bowl on cable TV, by current definition you are a thief and a pirate, you should have first gotten written permission from the NFL, and collected fees from your friends.

The only reason you are not in jail now is they couldn't prove you did it. Yet.

[dmk3]

I would just like for the bootleggers to make desent copies. I am tired of watching your fingers on my movies.
WHO CARES!
Hollywood is so not broke. The theaters are so not broke. I'm sure that they can make up the cash on the 7.00 tubs of stale popcorn!

It's been a slow week for news huh?