Man who illegally recorded 'Harry Potter' goes to prison
The man from Caloocan City has been sentenced to one year behind bars and fined P50,000
MANILA, Philippines – It was a good day for the Philippine cinema industry as a suspect of illegally recording a movie was finally convicted on Wednesday, June 23 – 5 years after he was caught.
Wendell Tagalogon of Caloocan City was sentenced to prison for one year and fined P50,000 after pleading guilty of violating the anti-camcording law.
Tagalogon was caught illegally recording Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 using a fake “Sony MP5 electronic device,” one minute into the film.
He was arrested by a security guard and two anti-piracy agents who witnessed the incident in November 2010.
The country’s film industry commended the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Philippine National Police (PNP) for their “efforts to end movie piracy by bringing illegal camcorders to justice.”
In a statement on Friday, June 26, the National Cinema Association of the Philippines and the Motion Picture Anti-Film Piracy Council said: “We are sending a message loud and clear that theater operators across the country will not tolerate this crime in our facilities. This conviction is proof that the strict measures we have employed to prevent camcording of films both local and international are being implemented and taken seriously.”
“This conviction is a welcome development, as it shows that enforcement and judicial branches are working together to protect the film industry, and that the Anti-Camcording Law is an effective deterrent against the crime of movie theft,” said Police Director Benjamin Magalong, chief of the PNP-Criminal Investigation and Detection Group.
Magalong said that the PNP will continue to work with the movie industry and DOJ to deter these criminals.
Under the anti-camcording law, “any person who is caught using or attempting to use an audiovisual recording device to transmit or make a copy” of any performance or film, will be fined a maximum of P750,000 and imprisoned for a maximum of six years.
