Man convicted over filming T2 Trainspotting at Glasgow cinema Published duration 25 May 2018

image copyright Google image caption Staff at the Vue cinema at Glasgow Fort spotted the man making the recording

A man caught trying to illegally record T2 Trainspotting at the Vue cinema at Glasgow Fort has been convicted of a copyright offence.

Ryan Finnigan, 41, pled guilty at Glasgow Sheriff Court to attempting to record the Danny Boyle film in February last year.

It is only the second time someone in Scotland has been convicted of such a crime, and the first since 2011.

Finnigan was caught after being spotted by staff at the cinema.

He was arrested and charged after a multi-agency operation involving Police Scotland and the Film Content Protection Agency.

'Damage to the film industry'

Det Insp, Ricky Hutton said: "This conviction shows that Police Scotland continually works with our partners to protect our creative industries from the threats from intellectual property crime.

"The copying of films in the cinemas and subsequent release of pirate copies online have significant financial implications for the UK Film industry and the ability to invest in jobs and future filming.

"Although people may think that this will have little impact on major film studios, make no mistake, the amount of money being lost is on a large scale. People working illegally are impacting on the creative industry as a whole and our international reputation as a leading location for creative arts.

"Copies of illegally recorded films are also acquired by organised crime networks - typically operating for profit across multiple illegal activities and therefore it is vital that we are able to crack down on those recording the material."

Simon Brown, director of the Film Content Protection Agency said: "This has been a significant criminal case involving the illegal recording of a film in a Scottish cinema, which was successfully spotted and disrupted by the staff there.

"Over 90% of pirated films originate from a copy recorded during a public performance in cinemas worldwide, so it's vital that offenders like Mr Finnigan are disrupted promptly to prevent further damage to the film industry."