Who has the power to detain for recording a movie without consent?

• A. Movie theatre operator
• B. Merchant
• C. Security guard
• D. Police officer

Answer: (A)

On private property, the person who owns and runs the operation sets the rules and has the authority to enforce them on the premises. If someone is caught recording a movie without permission, that is a violation of the theater’s policy (and can implicate copyright concerns), so the operator can detain the person briefly to stop the activity and assess the situation. This authority comes from the shopkeeper’s privilege idea—the owner can reasonably detain a suspected violation on their property for a short period to investigate.

Security staff act under the operator’s authority, so they can carry out the detention as agents of the theater. Police officers, while having broad arrest powers, aren’t the ones who automatically hold this private-property detention power on-site; they’re typically called in if the situation escalates or if criminal charges are pursued.