A few days ago, we posted about how what we take for granted about local favorite movie house the Alamo Drafthouse -- that it takes its "no cell phone" rule seriously -- got the Drafthouse mentioned in the news. Sort of like the way some bars will take the bad fake IDs that they confiscate from under-aged drinking aspirants and hang them on the wall, the Drafthouse took a bitter, recently-ejected (ex-)patron's unintentionally humorous answering machine rant and turned it into one of the theater's notorious pre-movie "don't use your f---ing phone" warning bumpers. Seems that the story is still winding its way through the media. Upon opening a copy of yesterday's New York Times, I was surprised to see a little picture plus a story on the front of the Business section:
The article doesn't just talk about the incident, which has been picked up on CNN, ABC and other mainstream sources. There's also a bit on the theater's history, a little talk of changing social standards, and even a legal breakdown. So, could the caller get pissed and successfully sue the Drafthouse for using her message without her permission? "After reviewing the video, Anthony Falzone, an intellectual property lawyer and lecturer at Stanford Law School, concurred. Even if the caller were to come forward now, she could not claim she was defamed, 'because defamation must always be based on a false statement of fact' and, 'unless they manipulated the recording,' the recording is truthful, Mr. Falzone said. Also, leaving a voice mail for a business is not considered a private communication, meaning that the caller could not claim an invasion of privacy, said Mr. Falzone, adding that this was 'yet another example that in this day and age there is a public record about everything you say publicly.'" Sounds like a long shot. In other words, don't mess with the Alamo Drafthouse.
If the drunken message-leaving lady or Ann Richards isn't convincing you, maybe this will do?
No comments:
Post a Comment