A Malaysian’s Instagram account got blocked for recording Toy Story 4 in the cinema

If you’re thinking of recording in the cinema even for a couple of seconds, think again. A Malaysian woman had her Instagram account blocked for a couple of days for recording a short clip of Toy Story 4 for Instagram Stories.

The clip was uploaded on 28th June 2019 and the very next day, she received an email from Instagram that her account has been temporarily blocked for 3 days for infringing intellectual property rights. This was followed by another email informing her that Disney Enterprise Inc is the party that has filed a copyright dispute. The content takedown by Instagram was compliant with the US’ Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

At the time of writing, her Instagram account is already accessible since the block was lifted on 1st July 2019. During the suspension, she had posted on Facebook, warning people not to record even Instagram Stories in the cinema.

In case you didn’t already know, it is an offence to record in the cinema. Under the Copyright Act 1987, offenders can be fined up to RM20,000 and jailed for not more than 5 years. It gets worse if you share it online without permission. Last year, a man was ordered to pay RM100,000 to Skop Productions for sharing Munafik 2 on social media.

Cinemas such as GSC had even introduced helplines outside the hall for patrons to report illegal recording and unruly behaviour.

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