UAE: Taking Pictures Or Videos At A Movie Theater Can Result In A Fine Of Up To Dh100,000 And Two Months In Jail.

Have you ever recorded a movie at a theater or taken a pictures of it? You can be subject to jail time and a hefty fine for this.

Many people still snap pictures and films during movies, even though there was a warning before the film began about breaking the nation’s copyright regulations.

According to Alexander Kukuev, managing partner of Uppercase Legal Advisory, “it is illegal in the United Arab Emirates to film or take pictures of a movie scene while watching a movie in a theater without the permission of the copyright holders of the movie contents.”

The former Federal Law No. 7 of 2002 was superseded by the UAE Government’s new Federal Law No. 38 of 2021 covering Copyright & Neighboring Rights, which went into effect in January 2022.

Regarding copyright infringement, Kukuev stated that acts such as reproducing, distributing, and communicating a work without the owner’s consent are considered copyright infringement and are punishable by fines, imprisonment, and the seizure and destruction of infringing copies, as well as by Articles 39, 40, and 41 of UAE Federal Law No. 38 of 2021.