                                 CODE OF VIRGINIA

AUDIOVISUAL RECORDING OF MOTION PICTURES UNLAWFUL; PENALTY (§ 18.2-187.2)

A. It shall be unlawful for any person to operate an audiovisual recording
function of a device in a commercial theater, excluding the lobby and other
common areas, to record a motion picture or any portion thereof without the
consent of the owner or lessee of the theater. Any person who violates the
provisions of this section is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

B. The owner or lessee of a commercial theater where a motion picture is being
exhibited, or his authorized agent or employee, who has probable cause to
believe that a person has made a recording in violation of subsection A on the
premises of the owner or lessee, may detain such person for a period not to
exceed one hour pending arrival of a law-enforcement officer. Such owner,
lessee, agent or employee shall not be held civilly liable for unlawful
detention if such detention does not exceed one hour, slander, malicious
prosecution, false imprisonment, false arrest, or assault and battery of the
person so arrested or detained, whether such arrest or detention takes place on
the premises of the owner or lessee or after close pursuit from such premises,
provided that, in causing the arrest or detention of such person, the owner,
lessee, agent or employee had at the time of such arrest or detention probable
cause to believe the person was making or had made an illegal recording in
violation of subsection A.

C. This section shall not apply to any lawfully authorized investigative,
law-enforcement, protective, or intelligence gathering activity by an agent or
employee of the Commonwealth or the federal government.

D. The term &#8220;audiovisual recording function&#8221; means that component of
an analog or digital photographic or video camera or other device developed with
the capability to record or transmit a motion picture or any part thereof.

HISTORY: 2004, c. 759.