As we reported back on the 8th July, a man was arrested in New York trying to film the Transformers movie in a cinema, well we now have more on this story as well as other arrests.The arrest in New York was the first time someone was arrested and charged under the new anti-theater camming laws. This story was, later, picked up by the BBC News. What wasn't reported then however, was that this was only one of five arrests over that weekend. Four other also caught trying to filmTransformers.
On July 4th in El Centro California, an individual was caught using his/her Nokia camera/video phone. The alleged bootlegger was arrested and faces up to “one year in jail and up to $2,500 in fines.” under Californian law.
On the same day a 27 year old woman was arrested in Addison Illinois for using her mobile to film Transformers. Trespassing charges were also raised against her and they (the trespass violation) carries a penalty of up to six months in jail and up to $500 in fines, followed by a probationary period of up to one year.
During the long holiday weekend, another individual in Orlando, Florida managed to film 30 minutes of Transformers before police placed the suspect into custody. They now face up to one year in jail and fines of up to $1000.
Finally 31-year-old Tyrone F. Simpson of Grayson, Lawrenceville, Georgia was arrested on Saturday 7th July by an off-duty Gwinnett County Sheriff’s Deputy moonlighting as the AMC theater’s security guard after an audience member reported he was using a handheld camera to record the movie. MrSimpson was arrested for film piracy, which carries up to a year in jail and a fine of up to $5,000 (though some sources report it as a year in jail and/or fines of upto $1000), as well as with possession of less than an ounce of marijuana (a first time offender carrying less than one ounce of marijuana in Georgia carries no fine and no jail sentence – only probation). Simpson was released from jail on bond Sunday.
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