Entertainment Legal News

Man Convicted Under New Statute For Pirating Movie In Movie Theater

A retired painter, Manuel Sandoval, has been found guilty of pirating the motion picture "The Legend of Zorro."

Sandoval, 70, a Los Angeles-area resident with no fixed address, was convicted of using a camcorder for the unauthorized recording of a motion picture in a movie theater. Sandoval was convicted following a three-day jury trial.

Sandoval was apprehended by movie theater employees and a mall security guard after they observed him camcording "The Legend of Zorro" during a matine performance on its opening day, October 28, 2005. When theater employees searched the bag in which Sandoval had hidden his camera, they also found tapes containing pirated copies of "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride" and "Monsters Inc." None of the studios that held the rights to "The Legend of Zorro," "Tim Burton's Corpse Bride" and "Monsters Inc." authorized Sandoval to copy those movies. The trial was the first in the nation under the Family Entertainment Copyright Act of 2005.

At sentencing, Sandoval faces a maximum possible sentence of three years in federal prison.

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