Stop-motion: Illegal recording in Russian cinemas will be prohibited by law

According to “MK” publication, the State Duma has adopted a bill at first reading. Under this bill, any person who illegally makes video recordings in cinemas will be equated to persons who drink alcohol. So far, it is not yet clear who is going to control this process and what kind of measures will be taken: the Ministry of Internal Affairs does not intend to deal with such cases, and there are no proposals to introduce administrative fines either.

At the request of cinema owners, changes will be made into the current law “On State Support for Cinematography in the Russian Federation”: the term “cinema/movie theater” will be introduced in this document; the cinema administration shall be obliged to notify viewers on the evacuation from the building in case of emergencies; audio and video recording of films or their fragments will be strictly prohibited; those who violate this ban won’t be “provided services”, they will be taken out of the movie hall, as they have long been doing with those who drink alcohol.

This topic has caused a heated discussion in the State Duma. For example, a “United Russia” party representative, Igor Antropenko, asked if it would be possible to take selfies in the movie hall on the background of the screen or shoot short videos for TikTok. Taking photos, under the new rules, will not be restricted, but videos, even short ones, will be regarded as a violation of the law.

There were no votes against the bill.