Angry movie goer sues cinema
p2pnet news | movies:- Canadian prime minister George W. Harper recently caved in to MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America) claims that its owners, Time Warner, Viacom, Fox, NBC Universal, Disney and Sony, are being brought to their knees by the illegal activities of evil Canadian camcording pirates based largely in Montréal, Quebec.
Consequently, Canada now boasts a brand new law which makes it a crime to use tiny hand-held camera recorders, such as those made and marketed extensively by Sony, in cinemas.
Now, under the You Knew It Was Going To Happen heading, “Marc over at Blork!’s blog informed me of the greatest news,” posts Dave on Darkly Dreaming joyously, going on:
Guzzo Cinema, those bastages who love to search through your stuff because we the paying crim— customers are all pirates who want to camcord movies in theaters, is getting his ASS SUED.”
That’s Vincent Guzzo on the right (the one without the camcorder 
) and Dave goes on to quote an item from CJAD, to wit:
Guzzo sued re:bag search | CJAD
Fri, 2007-07-27 08:29.
Shuyee Lee
Julie Berthiaume says she and her two young daughters went to see a movie early last month at the Marche Central Guzzo and was asked to undergo a bag search.
She didn’t like the idea but said okay. Berthiaume says the theatre worker rummaged through her bag with both hands in a very rough manner.
She says she didn’t have a camera and wasn’t going to pirate the movie.
Berthiaume is suing Guzzo for 60-thousand dollars, claiming physical and moral suffering and a loss of enjoyment of life.
The National Association of Theatre Owners, aka NATO, recently launched a massively ridiculous poster campaign presumably designed to strike terror into the hearts of would-be pirate camcorderers.
Definitely stay tuned.
Also See:
recently caved in – Canada caves in to Hollywood, May 11, 2007
brought to their knees – Hollywood ‘Pirate Canada’ claims, May 9, 2007
ridiculous poster campaign – New Hollywood anti-pirate posters, June 22, 2007
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July 30th, 2007 at 8:09 am
It would be one thing if she didn’t concent to the search and they did it anyway.
She should just go home.
July 30th, 2007 at 8:59 am
I can’t belive anyone puts up with this! Do they still have that tax on blank media in Canada? You know, the one where we pay them royalties when we camcord movies.
July 30th, 2007 at 9:42 am
It’s about friggin’ time. These bastards are really going way over the line with their shenanigans, and it’s time they realized they can only push us so far before we start fighting back. The last time I was at Cineplex, I saw a sign that said “By purchasing a ticket, you are consenting to being searched” or something like that. Since when? Camcorder piracy has been going on for years, and this has never been an issue. Just because they decide to implement this new policy doesn’t mean anyone’s going to be okay with it.
In retrospect, this practice is irrational, in poor taste, and completely ineffective. People who camcord movies know what they’re doing, and they’re not going to be caught that easily. No matter how many consumers the film and cinema industry terrorizes and intimidates, it happens anyway, whether they like it or not.
Even though I try my best not to give Hollywood my money, I caved just to see the Simpsons movie. But I knew that going to Cineplex would kill the experience for me, so I went to Rainbow, an independent cinema instead. Not only did they not implement this anti-consumer policy, but they didn’t even have propaganda ads or warnings of any sort. The ticket was about 3 or 4 bucks cheaper, and if I had gone in the afternoon, it would have only been 6 bucks. Best of all, I only had to sit through 2 ads before the coming attractions.
Cineplex and the like are losing money because customers are fed up. They’ve been pushed too far, and they’re seeking out alternative methods of being entertained. If you ran a business with ridiculously high prices, and then forced the customers to sit through 20 minutes of cheesy, tacky advertisements, and then accused them of being criminals, how do you think they’d react?
July 30th, 2007 at 10:25 am
“Sanji Himura Says:
July 30th, 2007 at 8:09 am
It would be one thing if she didn’t concent to the search and they did it anyway.
She should just go home.”
Well for your information….consenting to a search does NOT mean that they can treat you any way they please. That was a very stupid statement!
And in the FIRST PLACE she was not camcording anything…now it is the cinema that is going to have to show up before a judge and explain their actions…especially seeing she was doing nothing wrong.
I hope they get the pants sued off of them and it serves as a lesson to the MPAA that they cannot treat people anyway they please just because they THINK someone may bring a camcorder in.
They are stupid for doing this anyway…as was stated…..REAL cammers KNOW where to go and how not to get caught.
July 30th, 2007 at 11:34 am
I work at a Movie Theater (I will not give away the company) and I am happy to say that not only do we steer away from that asinine policy, but, although we received them, we keep those propaganda posters under a heap of year-old movie posters so that they never see the light of day. We get it, the customers aren’t criminals, and I feel that this is the reason our theater is dominating our competition in our region
July 31st, 2007 at 6:51 pm
When they ask you if you will consent to any kind of search of your personal property here is what you do folks.
“No.”
Its that simple.
That’s right, its the ‘Just say no’ campain all over again.
August 1st, 2007 at 12:56 am
They shouldnt be aloud to look through peoples purses. They should just say open it please and then look in. And if a place is gona do that they should have warnings clearly posted before people purchase tickets.
I still cant see why people bother taking a camera into a theatre to record the movie. Let the pros do it and then get it off the net. Ive never seen a cam with french writing or subtitles. Mostly they have been German or Russian and some Spanish.
March 7th, 2009 at 1:31 pm
The outrage of these responses is ridiculous. The woman suing for emotional distress must have more money than brains. Did the employee pull personal items out of her purse and embarass her?? The bottom line is to not do anything you don’t want to. “reader’s Write” has it. “can I search your purse Ma’am?” …the answer is “NO.” There is no way I’d ever open up my bag, and they would never risk losing customers by putting up a fuss and asking someone to leave. If some kid working at the theatre REALLY thought she was a movie pirater, he would send the manager to take a peek once she was in her seat. All they’d find in my purse is a bunch of snacks, because I can’t afford the ridiculous theatre prices for candy. I’d leave before I’d submit to a search anywhere…except maybe the airport.