Unless you’ve been avoiding social media like the plague that it is over the past few days (and bravo, if you have!), then you probably already know that Congress has approved a new stimulus package that aims to help businesses and citizens of the US survive the still-ongoing pandemic. But what you might not realize is that buried deep in that bill are two things of note: money for theaters and a new law that says illegal streaming is a felony. Yep, you read that right.
According to THR, when the actual text of the new bill was disseminated to the public, people started to look at all the pork-barrel spending that goes into these sorts of things. That is to say, if you’ve watched “House of Cards” or “The West Wing,” you know that bills don’t just get approved, there are concessions that have to be made and added little clauses that will allow for certain congresspeople to sign off on. And in the new stimulus, one of the more random additions is the new law surrounding the streaming of unlicensed content.
As is detailed in the bill, the new law would make it a felony to stream content that you don’t own the rights for. Obviously, on a macro level, this would mean that Netflix isn’t going to show “The Mandalorian” (which it couldn’t anyway, obviously), but on a micro level, and how it will likely affect those film fans that enjoy watching things through dubious methods, it means that you could be facing a felony to illegally stream content, which could result in up to 10 years in jail. And I’m going out on a limb when I say this, but I really don’t think you want to be the person in federal prison for streaming an episode of “Game of Thrones” that you’re not supposed to. Just sayin’.
And as mentioned above, not all the additions that affect the film industry are that random. There is also a large amount of money, approximately $15 billion, earmarked for use to help struggling live entertainment venues and movie theaters. However, it appears that there is a caveat that suggests the money is more for the use of independent theaters and not the major chains. So, it doesn’t look like AMC is going to somehow reap the benefits.
All told, even though there are plenty of jokes about the $600 checks that may or may not be coming your way, it does appear that the film industry is getting some benefit from the bill. And you may have to think twice before streaming something illegally.
