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Boycott Regal Cinemas: Teen Arrested for Recording 20 Second Movie Clip

Posted on Thursday, August 2nd, 2007 by Peter Sciretta

Regal CinemasA 19 year old girl named Jhannet Sejas was immediately arrested after she recorded a 20 second clip from the movie Transformers that she wanted to show to her little brother. She now faces up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine. According to the Washington Post, Sejas was celebrating her 19th birthday with her boyfriend when two police officers arrived:

“I was terrified,” said Sejas, her voice breaking. “I was crying. I’ve never been in trouble before.” She said the assistant manager of the theater saw her holding up the Canon Power Shot and reported it to the general manager, who called police.

Sejas of course had no intention on selling the 20-second clip. I mean, who would even purchase such a thing? And for once, the MPAA are not the ones to blame. Regal Cinemas Ballston Common 12 decided to prosecute the case.

I think that everyone should boycott the Regal Cinemas movie theater chain until they drop the charges. A “zero-tolerance policy at the theater level” is ridiculous, and I encourage /Film readers to stay away from Regal until they decide to change their policy and reverse their decision.

We don’t live in a black and white world. Situations like this should be decided internally on a case by case basis. The is no reason that this 19 year old girl should serve jail time and have a permanent record because of this incident. The police should have never been called. We live in a time when a 19 year old kid can more easily download a film off bit torrent than make a $20+ trip to the local multiplex on opening weekend. The movie theaters should give more respect to those of us who pay for a ticket.

“The movie industry needs to recognize that their audience isn’t the enemy,” said Cindy Cohn, general counsel for the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

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  • I alredy hate Regal for other reasons. They're ticket return policy is ridiulous. Not to mention they arrest this girl for doing something stupid while at the same time allowing kids into rated R movies and doing nothing when they cause problems.
  • Jay01
    Unbelievable.
    But now you know how smokers feel in fascist California. Something needs to change, but it won't until people do.
  • Nathan
    This is just obnoxious. It's not setting a precedent or making an example out of a prime candidate. This is just bullying.
  • Dante Palmer
    What kind of idiot records ANYTHING in a theater anyway? You have to have a serious lack of common sense to do something this dumb. I'm actually glad she's prosecuted for this, just for being stupid.
  • Nathan
    She recorded a 20 second clip! Why is it not considered an honor rather than a crime?! There was something so cool that she just had to show her little brother. That's a good thing. That means the movie is doing its job.

    And Dante, if only someone were there to prosecute every time anyone did something stupid. But that's not the way the world works. Dumb is not a crime. If it was, I'm sure you'd have been thrown behind bars loooong ago.
  • source188
    disgusting.

    even though i must admit that if i ever saw someone pullout a cam at the show, i would be really annoyed....maybe even to the point of confronting the person but just that. a theater chain coming down on a nineteen year-old for twenty secs of a flick that's been out for a month?!?!?! i'm sure she's the mastermind responsible for the thousands of uploads on torrent sites and the hundreds of bootlegs at any flea market, right.
  • B33
    The fact that the MPAA gives a cash reward (Around $500 last time I checked) to whoever reports someone for using any kind of recording device in a move theater might have something to do with it...
  • John
    She wanted to show her brother the 20sec clip. What about all the trailers, all the clips, all the interviews, was that not enough? She takes a camera inside a movie theater and is then surprised that she is arrested. Why don't I bring a gun onto a plane, and see what happens. I just want to show the gun to my brother, it doesn't even have bullets. Who cares, you're going right to jail.
  • Nathan
    By far the biggest leap in the analogy world EVER. 20 second phone clip compared to bringing a gun on a plane?! Are YOU a terrorist John?

    I have a pretty good feeling that the botards who feel a 19 year old girl should go to jail for this, are the same sort of people that can't tell someone to keep quiet during a movie, so they get a manager involved. Wankers.

    Piracy IS theft. Recording 20 seconds of a kickass scene from Transformers is NOT theft. Here's a more realistic analogy: someone takes a picture of a work of art to show a friend. That's not a crime. A real crime would be taking a good enough picture to pass off as a print. I highly doubt this girl intends to make bootleg dvds of her 20 second clip.
  • ender
    there was no phone. i'm sure its just a force of habit. most people have cameras on their phones now. i don't. but most do.

    I only care cuz of the whole police involvement thing. That's just a bit much. Thank you for protecting the public from.....19 year old girls??? Let her loose and go catch a real criminal for once.

    i'm still gonna download movies before they come out. i'm gonna sneak into movie theaters to see the latest blockbusters. and i'm going to give away copies of my movies to whoever freaking wants em. at least until hollywood stops spending over a hundred million dollars to make mediocre movies, then expect us to dish out our HARD EARNED cash just so their weekend revenues kick arse. When, if Hollywood execs really wanted the respect they so demand, they could actually try out something radical like.....an ORIGINAL idea. It's Ri-goddamn-diculous right now with all the sequels, prequels, remakes, tv shows gone big screen, and graphic novel inspired movies. Piracy is just society's backlash in the wake of all this un-originality.
  • A year in prison and the fine are extreme, but I think the woman is a moron using the excuse that she would only be showing it to her little brother.
    I'm may be guessing here, but this is the sort of person who likely doesn't think twice about texting on her cell phone in the middle of the movie. (which should also be a criminal offense).
  • Kestrel
    Wow. Interesting story, but I don't think a sob fest or a boycott is warrented. She won't serve time, but you can bet that she will get a slap on the wrist, and the publicity of the event will help people think twice before they haul in video cameras to movie theaters. Suits me fine.
  • Ivana Tinkle
    what she did was stupid yes, going to jail for it- not going to
    happen, and David Markland, I dont know what kind of phone
    makes that much noise when people text that it would
    annoy you to the point that it should become a crime, people
    do it all the time here and no one hears a thing.
  • Foolish... I wish an email address could be published so the internet could respond directly to Regal. When the main movie is up and running ... book'm Dano.. but some trailer. Sigh...
  • Turcicus
    I'd like to know what ticket return policies Sam S. is referring to. From what I've seen and gone through, Regal is pretty forgiving if you have to return a ticket or if you complain about noise, distractions, etc. during your showing.

    Oh, and the girl was stupid for thinking she could record any portion of a movie, no matter how long it is, in front of everybody else in the theater. I don't think she should go to jail, but she's still an idiot.
  • $ J Money $
    this is rediculous. I can't believe this theatre.
    I mean I recorded a clip once. It was of Pirates 3....it was a sweet scene. ANd all it was was everyone yelling FIRE in the big fight scene.....There is nothing wrong with it....Why she just didnt go take her brother is confusing to me....but whatever
  • I agree with John who wanted to know why all the trailers and other clips that were released weren't enough to show her brother. There was tons of footage available. Her 20 second clip was probably among the footage.

    While the gun on a plane analogy was pretty dumb, I get the point. If you know it's illegal to record a movie, why would you ever take out a video camera?
  • A.J.
    Did she know that you can't take a video camera into a theatre? If she says no she's a damn liar or an idiot. She should get what she has coming to her. Common sense is not that common.
  • B.B. King's Talent
    @ Mike Hardle: She was recording a portion of the actual film's ending, not a trailer.
  • Sorry if I can't get behind the boycott (although there are no Regal Cinemas in my area) but it is illegal to have a camera, or to record a movie with a cell phone. Just wanting to show a 20 second clip to a family member isn't an excuse. A 19 yr old should know better.

    But doesn't Regal Cinemas have that device to warn of piracy? Was that used in the arrest?
  • B.B. King's Talent
    @ the OP, Peter Sciretta: Exactly why shouldn't the police have been called? The article clearly states the assistant manager saw the recording in progress, notified his or her boss, who in turn notified the police. How was the assistant manager supposed to know how much of the film the girl had recorded? It could have been 20 seconds, 20 minutes, an hour or the whole damn thing. He or she isn't going to put his/her hands on the girl (I don't believe they or any theater employee have the right to physically detain a suspect), and so the police did need to be called.

    This girl is not in any way a "movie pirate" in the normal sense, but heads really need to come out of asses on this one. She was recording a major motion picture in a theater. She should have known better. She will be given probation and/or a light fine and go about her business...and this "boycott" nonsense will dissipate almost as quickly as it arose.
  • dave
    They have been placed on the banned list.
  • BB - The theater management should have watched the situation for a few minutes before calling the police. If they had even checked the situation more than 20 seconds, they would have realized that the 19 year old girl was not a movie pirate.
  • friend in the mix
    ender: if these movies are so mediocre and bad why do you download or sneak in to watch them? You're actually spending something far more valuable than money on them: time. And if you're willing to spend the one commodity you can never get back on them, please stop whining that ticket prices aren't worth the quality.
  • erazor
    mpaa gives 500 dollars to the employee that discovers someone trying to record a movie. it isn't about selling or not selling, it's about making an example out of somebody, but this was definitely a bad move on their behalf. you shouldn't hate a movie chain just because people are trying to pad their paychecks..
  • ender
    friend in the mix: i download movies and sneak into theatres in the hopes that my spirits will be lifted and faith in movie making rejuvinated until one day, i just might be okay with paying to see a flick. no whining there. just cold hard logic.

    and what the HELL are you talking about with spending time?! It takes less than an hour to download a movie these days. i then watch the movie, and if i like it i keep it, if i don't, it's gone. i'm investing no more time than if i were to actually drive to the theatre and pay to see a movie.

    and how about this people, we wait to see if she is prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law? if the punishment is extreme, then i'd say anger towards a movie chain and boycotting is allowable. if she only has to pay a couple hundred bucks and do some community service (equivalent of slap on the wrist), then i say we all just forget about this mess.
  • Frank
    Well it is just the fact of anoying a customer doing nothing wrong.

    I never believe the MPAA BS that camcording is a source for the real pirate! Who is going to buy a camcorded movie with crappy resolution, trapezoidal screen, poor sound and people passing in front of the camera from time to time?

    Oh I know! Glueman (MPAA) and Gerge Bush!

    I am right!

    Boycott Regal Cinema!
  • Frank - have you ever been to New York City? People sell bootleg copies of every movie you can imagine. They're only in business because people continue to buy them, even with their crappy resolution, poor sound, etc.
  • Jeff Nyman
    What no one bothered to ask is the simplest question:

    How long of a length is okay to record?

    So we're saying this girl should not get punished for her 20 second clip. Okay. But what's the cut-off? A minute? How about five-minutes? Or for a three hour movie, could we record an hour and be okay?

    The point here is that either you draw a line in the sand or you don't. If you draw a line and don't adhere to it, why bother drawing the line? If you draw a line but it's an arbitrary one, how is that fair?
  • ender
    I hate to say it, but uh, Jeff just might be onto something here.
  • Jeff - my big problem is Regal Cinema's “zero-tolerance policy at the theater level” policy. If they empowed the general manager of the movie theater to make a decision, may-be he would have watched the situation for more than 20 seconds and may-be his trigger fingers wouldn't have called the police.

    When I was a young teen, one of my friends was caught stealing candy at a convience store. The store owner let him go without calling the police. He scared him enough so that he never did it again. If that manager/owner had a “zero-tolerance policy" the kid might have a record and who knows what else. The answer here is to empower the manager at the theater level to weigh the situation before making a decision.
  • dbunker
    Oh yeah.. sure "I was recording it for my brother" *Wink,Wink*.. Yknow I believe they have versions that can be seen for 20 seconds of a movie.. They are called Movie Trailers!!!
    What a lame excuse.. besides they caught her after 20 seconds, how much more was she going to record?!
    Look I know the music and movie associations ream out people when they should really lower the price of their material, which would probably drop the piracy down considerably,
    BUT for someone to use a lame excuse as recording "only 20 seconds" for her brother just doesn't make any sense, why was he on the fence about seeing it? I mean what more can 20 second of a movie show that a trailer doesn't?
    I mean this isn't some deep serious movie about clams or something, it is robots beating up on robots.
    I think she should have to pay a fine and be banned from the theater, but not thrown in jail for this.
    I mean if everyone was thrown into jail for being stupid, well, the Prison would have to be a whole State, not just in one.
    But for a boycott to a movie theater for someone's illegal action doesn't make alot of sense IMO.
  • Frank
    "People sell bootleg copies of every movie you can imagine."

    What's wrong with you? MPAA Drone?

    Go to a p2p network and download tranformer DVD Iso image or even AVI CD.Way better quality that a camcorder. No need to go to this piece of crap or regal Cinema wasting $10 or bying
    a "botleg" You are lying the bootleg are comming from the theater!

    I don't like parasites therefore I don't like the RIAA nor the MPAA and I don't like you because you are working for them.
  • Nathan
    Zero tolerance is just dumb in general. It's the lazy man's way of avoiding having to weigh the issues in any given situation. Example: Many people are pro-life because that is their political party's stance. But what if your daughter was raped and impregnated by some drugged up, diseased criminal? Wouldn't that be one of those rare occassions where maybe your view of abortion should be a case to case basis, and not necessarily some esoteric zero tolerance type policy. Kind of a stretch. But still, it illustrates my point. Zero tolerance is dumb.
  • Jeff Nyman
    I see people's point about the zero tolerance. It's often a code work for "lacking common sense." But all we have is this girl's word that she was just going to record 20 seconds. For all we know, that wasn't the case. Maybe she was planning on recording a little more.

    I don't have a reason to distrust her on principle so let's just say that she felt 20 seconds would be enough to hype the film for her brother. But here's another question: wouldn't the two minute trailers have done that? All of which were online, by the way. Did the brother need this 20 second shot of the "real thing"?

    Honestly, that explanation sounds like crap to me.

    I don't think she should go to jail necessarily and maybe the fine is excessive. I don't know. But I know that maybe -- just maybe -- getting a little fear put into her was a good thing. Maybe not. Honestly, I don't know. I just know that maybe if they show they're going to crack down on this people who really do record entire movies will be less likely to do so or, at least, will have to be that much more circumspect.
  • Turcicus:
    Some friends and I got together to go see Silent Hill. One of our friends didn't make it and called durring the trilers (yes, I went outside the theater to take the call and I ALWAYS keep my phoneon vibe in the theater) to let us know. After the movie was over I attempted to return the ticket and was told in no uncertain terms that it wasn't going to happen. I would have even been happy with a pass to another movie on another day, but the manager would not budge. I called the home office and wrote a letter to the home office and was rejected both times.

    Also keep in mind that durring the movie the crowd was extremly rowdy with 4 of them being escorted out by police. Not only was it a bad movie experience but the group of 8 of us will never visit a Regal theater again.
  • David
    Honestly, no one gets arrested in a movie theatre for this, even if the police ARE involved. There is ALWAYS more to the story and it usually involves the person becoming loud and abusive and too stubborn to know when to shut up. It's a relief when they get hauled off, and the crowd usually applauds. You turn on your camera or cellphone in a movie theatre, you are asked to turn it off or leave. You get belligerant, the police take you away, simple as that. BTW the theatre can't press charges. Only the police or the owner of the film can.
  • Nicole
    Seriously people, what she did was dumb on an all new level, but we all do dumb things. We're people for goodness sakes, we're going to do dumb things, some of us more than others! But this is just sad when child predators can walk the streets free and easy but a nineteen year old girl could go to jail for recording 20 seconds of a movie. Now I'm not at all approving of her actions, they were illegal and no doubt she knew that, but it all seems too extreme to me in any case. What the heck is this world coming to?
  • THE REAL TRUTH: While the police officers were arresting her for trumped-up charges, in the same local area two women were raped, five cars were stolen, and a person was held-up at gunpoint. Talk about priorities FUCK REGAL CINEMAS, FUCK THE MPAA, and FUCK THE POLICE!!! You PIGS make me want to F'N PUKE my guts out!!! What will happen to her? Since its the COMMIEWEALTH of Virginia the most ASS backwards state in the USA she will probably get royally FUCT by the DUMB ASS SHITHEADS that are the court system here. And whoever the STUPID jackass managers at the cinema who thought they were being hero's by calling the pigs on this lady I hope you get your punk asses beat down like the fucking LOSERS you are. Im going to find out who you LOSERS are and go from there ASSCLOWN since I live in the area. I hope that $500 reward you get from the MPAA will cover your Doctor expenses after you get the hell beat out of your candy ass for being a snitch you punk ass MF'ers!!! I'll be sure to come to the court dates just so I can find out who the snitches are and once I find that out then your snitching candy asses are going to be ASS OUT you dumb ass MF'ers!!! I hope your candy asses have insurance cause youre going to need it LOSERS!!!
  • Kitty
    To the person who tried to return a ticket AFTER the movie was over: dude, whether the ticket was used or not, I have NEVER been to a theater that will take a ticket back after the movie is over. If your friend called and told you during the trailers that he/she wasn't coming, that's when you should have returned the ticket. I'm sure they would have refunded your money. I think most theaters have a policy of refunding up to 1/2 hour into the film; after that, why should they?
  • WhateverHappenedToPoliteness?
    Wow, the internet is serious business. I'd like to respond to "Ivana Tinkle" about text messaging in movie theaters. It's not the noise that's irritating it's having an incredibly bright screen lit up in a darkened movie theater. It is incredibly annoying and distracting for the people in the rows behind you. Fine, maybe you're a doctor on call and might need to be involved in ONE text message but the last time I went to a theater I sat behind two women who texted for the first 15 minutes of the movie. Finally, I politely asked them stop, which after giving me ugly looks caused them to stop for all of five minutes. After they started up again another guy lost it and started yelling at them. Even this didn't entirely stop them. I want to know why the hell you would pay good money to sit in the dark and text people for two hours. You could sit at home and do that for free. Some people's mommas just didn't raise them right.
  • A year in jail and a $2,500 fine? Something is badly wrong here.

    Count me in - no, count me OUT! Regal SUCKS
  • Samuson
    @friend in the mix

    Depending on a person's worth and earning power it's possible to think of a 2 hour movie requiring 2 hours at $0 and say 4 hours of your time when you pay for it
  • "She now faces up to a year in jail and a $2,500 fine."

    Chill out, people. This is the maximum punishment for the charge she was arrested under.

    Anyone who thinks Regal is going to press this is smoking a doobie.
  • Itsumishi
    My god the amount of morons posting about this issue is ridiculous.
    Does anyone really believe she took a video camera into the cinema to record 20 seconds of the film?
    Clearly she’s just been sitting there watching the movie (with her boyfriend to the person that asked why she didn’t take her brother to the movie, please read the article before replying) seen something that she’s thought wow he’ll love that. Recorded 20 seconds of low quality un-sellable footage (camera-phone people!).
    It is entirely fair to boycott the cinema on this issue. Our wallets are the best means of showing companies that their activities are unacceptable. Putting a 19 year old girl through this ordeal, even if she is found innocent and all charges are dropped is absurd!
    There was no need to call the police. If she broke down in tears the second the police arrived she clearly didn’t realise that it was going to be a big deal at all and it didn’t have to be.

    How Regal could have handled it better.
    1- See the girl recording.
    2- Walk up to hear, ask her to come outside.
    3- “Could I please see what you’ve recorded on that phone?”
    4- “Please delete that footage mam, did you realise that it is an offence to record blah blah blah. If we catch you again we will have to prosecute.”
    5- Let the girl leave with some dignity and a warning.

    No police involvement, no public backlash, no stressful costly and absurd legal case.
    And even then, she was providing the movie with free advertising, and I’m guessing if it was her local cinema it’s probably where her brother and his mates would have gone to see it shortly after.
  • Itsumishi:

    Clearly you've never been around girls before who'll cry to get out of trouble, feigning ignorance or sorrow. This shouldn't be an indication of her innocence for even a moment.

    Also, she wasn't using a camera phone - she was using a Power Shot camera. Depending on type of Power Shot, it could be used to record high enough quality to post to the internet.

    Finally, if the theatre pressed for her to delete whatever she had on her camera they could have been sued by her on a couple different grounds (as crazy as that sounds, private parties can not confiscate your property or use the threat of arrest to get you to show them footage or delete footage).

    If you want to boycott Regal, find better grounds than a single isolated incident that hasn't had all the fact revealed about yet. Does Regal have poor projection quality? Crappy popcorn? Red Vines instead of Twizzlers? Those are real reasons to boycott a theatre.
  • Uh Dur
    I wish I could be as retarded as half the people replying here. Peter already replied to all the replies, stating that his main "beef" is Regal's Zero Tolerance policy. Yeah yeah, cameras and phones in theaters are bad. Same things goes for people who won't shut up and crying children. But zero tolerance? Damn that. That's the same as shoving your fingers in your ears and giving the same (worst) punishment to every person that does something wrong.
  • Anyone whips out a camera or a phone in a theater deserves a boot to the head.
    The intentions don't mean a thing.

    I'm just happy someone got bitchslapped because of it.

    Here's hoping it happens more often.
  • Rob Caldwell
    She should have been removed from the theater and banned just like all idiots with cameras, cell phone's blackberries, ect... This is not your living room moron; this is a movie theater where there are other human beings who don't want to be distracted by your never ending narcissism. I'm looking forward to the day when theaters block cell phone signals in their doors. Pending that... frisk these mouth breathers at the door!

    I will not be joinging in any silly boycott...
  • Joey JoJo Shabadoo, Jr.
    Regardless, little girls violating clearly posted rules aside, they also do a suck job - I saw the Simpsons with no dolby, the sound was like it came from a tin can, and a kid was singing at the top of his lungs FOR AN HOUR STRAIGHT. Why can't they get one of their half-wit minimum wagers to walk through periodically to confirm that what they're doing is not shit? If they did maybe I'd even give that kid with the camera a smack on way out. But as of now, I'm boycotting too. Good for you, kid. You were probably just trying to recoup your loss.

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