-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Hash: SHA1 Parker wrote: > "While many have commented on the fair use aspect, which pertains to > federal copyright laws, it has no relationship to the Virginia state > law at issue." > > Does this make any sense? Somehow I was under the impression that > federal law trumped state law.
The Virginia law is not a copyright law. The state law, separate from any copyright concern, says: You can't use a video camera in a movie theater. Even if would be fair use, you still run afoul of the state law. Consider if a TV broadcaster used a NSFW snippet of hardcore pornography in their nightly news broadcast. Fair use would entitle them to do so; broadcast regulations would not. Different laws. The difference here is, the "cam ban" is clearly directly related to copyright. There is no other concern with camcording besides the loss of rent extracted from the film's copyright. Any other possible concerns (e.g. a video camera might be a nuisance to other patrons) are addressed under other laws (e.g. trespass, contract) -- if they don't want you there because you're disruptive, they can force you to leave. Since the "cam ban" laws are only about copyright, they're a backdoor extension of copyright -- without exceptions and limitations built into copyright, such as fair use. IANAL, but it seems like although such laws are not technically copyright legislation, they do change the traditional contours of copyright protection, which would make them subject to strict First Amendment scrutiny -- if, that is, someone is willing to take it to court. - -- Gavin Baker http://freeculture.org/ [EMAIL PROTECTED] [snip] > Both the federal government and most states, including Virginia, have > passed legislation making such conduct illegal. Virginia Code Ann. > Section 59.1-41.2 states: > > A.It shall be unlawful for any person to operate an audiovisual > recording function of a device in a commercial theater, excluding the > lobby and other common areas, to record a motion picture or any > portion thereof without the consent of the owner or lessee of the > theater. Any person who violates the provisions of this section is > guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor. > > B. The owner or lessee of a commercial theater where a motion picture > is being exhibited, or his authorized agent or employee, who has > probable cause to believe that a person has made a recording in > violation of subsection A on the premises of the owner or lessee, may > detain such person for a period not to exceed one hour pending arrival > of a law-enforcement officer. . . . . > > * * > * * > > D. The term "audiovisual recording function" means that component of > an analog or digital photographic or video camera or other device > developed with the capability to record or transmit a motion picture > or any part thereof. > > While many have commented on the fair use aspect, which pertains to > federal copyright laws, it has no relationship to the Virginia state > law at issue. -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: GnuPG v1.4.6 (GNU/Linux) Comment: Using GnuPG with Mozilla - http://enigmail.mozdev.org iD8DBQFG5FR3tLXQdLhFpekRAvu1AJ9uuIEQcDjAIZWZXpfn475LNNSligCfXFZv /3VhVgq7Gt9zBFFokCAqvGE= =iDCn -----END PGP SIGNATURE----- _______________________________________________ Discuss mailing list [email protected] http://freeculture.org/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/discuss
