| Passed by the Senate March 8, 2004 YEAS 48 ________________________________________ President of the Senate Passed by the House March 3, 2004 YEAS 96 ________________________________________ Speaker of the House of Representatives | I, Milton H. Doumit, Jr., Secretary of the Senate of the State of Washington, do hereby certify that the attached is SENATE BILL 6378 as passed by the Senate and the House of Representatives on the dates hereon set forth. ________________________________________ Secretary | |
| Approved ________________________________________ Governor of the State of Washington | Secretary of State State of Washington |
| State of Washington | 58th Legislature | 2004 Regular Session |
Read first time 01/19/2004. Referred to Committee on Judiciary.
AN ACT Relating to prohibiting unauthorized operation of a recording device in a motion picture exhibition facility; adding a new chapter to Title 19 RCW; and prescribing penalties.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:
NEW SECTION. Sec. 1 (1) Whoever, without the consent of the
owner or lessee of the motion picture exhibition facility and the
licensor of the motion picture being exhibited, knowingly operates an
audiovisual recording function of a device in a motion picture
exhibition facility is guilty of a gross misdemeanor.
(2) The owner or lessee of a motion picture exhibition facility
where a motion picture is being exhibited, or the authorized agent or
employee of such owner or lessee, or the licensor of the motion picture
being exhibited or his or her agent or employee, who alerts law
enforcement authorities of an alleged violation of this section shall
not be liable in any civil action arising out of measures taken by such
owner, lessee, licensor, agent, or employee in the course of
subsequently detaining a person that the owner, lessee, licensor,
agent, or employee in good faith believed to have violated this section
while awaiting the arrival of law enforcement authorities, unless the
plaintiff can show by clear and convincing evidence that such measures
were manifestly unreasonable or the period of detention was
unreasonably long.
(3) This section does not prevent any lawfully authorized
investigative, law enforcement protective, or intelligence gathering
employee or agent, of the state or federal government, from operating
any audiovisual recording device in any motion picture exhibition
facility where a motion picture is being exhibited, as part of lawfully
authorized investigative, protective, law enforcement, or intelligence
gathering activities.
(4) For the purposes of this section:
(a) "Audiovisual recording function" means the capability of a
device to record or transmit a motion picture or any part thereof by
means of any technology now known or later developed.
(b) "Motion picture exhibition facility" means any theater,
screening room, indoor or outdoor screening venue, auditorium,
ballroom, or other premises where motion pictures are publicly
exhibited, regardless of whether an admission fee is charged, but does
not include a personal residence or retail establishment.
NEW SECTION. Sec. 2 Section 1 of this act constitutes a new
chapter in Title