720 ILCS 5/21-10 Criminal Use of a Motion Picture Exhibition Facility
This law makes it illegal to record a movie in a theater without permission.
This statute says that recording a movie in a theater without the owner’s and movie maker’s consent is a crime. It also protects theater workers who report or hold a person suspected of doing this until police arrive.
(a) A person breaks this law if they record any part of a movie in a theater without permission from both the owner of the theater (or the person renting it) and the maker of the movie being shown.
(b) Sentence: This crime is a Class 4 felony, which means it is a serious offense that can lead to prison time.
(c) A theater owner, employee, or movie licenser who stops someone they believe is recording and calls the police won’t get in civil trouble for holding that person–unless it’s proven they acted unreasonably or held them too long.
(d) This law does not stop police, government investigators, or security agents from recording when they are doing official work that’s allowed by law.
(e) This law does not apply to people using recording devices in stores only to show how the device works for sale or display purposes.
(f) A person can still be charged under another law if that law has a tougher punishment for the same actions.
(g) “Audiovisual recording function” means any device that can record or send out a movie or part of it using any kind of technology. A “facility” does not include someone’s private home.
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