There is a bill sitting on the desk of the Governor of Ohio awaiting signature. It is not very long:

1) "Audiovisual recording function" means the capability of a device to record or transmit a motion picture or any part of a motion picture by means of any technology existing on, or developed after, the effective date
of this section.

(2) "Facility" includes all retail establishments and movie theaters.

(B) No person, without the written consent of the owner or lessee of the facility and of the licensor of the motion picture, shall knowingly operate an audiovisual recording function of a device in a facility in which a motion picture is being shown.

(C) Whoever violates division (B) of this section is guilty of motion picture piracy, a misdemeanor of the first degree on the first offense and a felony of the fifth degree on each subsequent offense.

(D) This section does not prohibit or restrict a lawfully authorized investigative, law enforcement, protective, or intelligence gathering employee or agent of the government of this state or a political subdivision of this state, or of the federal government, when acting in an official capacity, from operating an audiovisual recording function of a device in any facility in which a motion picture is being shown.

...

This means that no one can show anyone in a retail store how a VCR works. No one can use a phone that can stream TV or other video images in a store. No one can take a still picture in a store in which a movie is being shown on a TV screen -- without permission. How does this work? Why wouldn't this act be preempted by the Copyright Act? Why is it that we seem to need permission to do everything?

The text must be directed at people pointing cameras towards the screen in movie theaters, but it is drafted so badly and so broadly that it is hard to tell. I suspect that the governor will sign this bill, saying "I'm against piracy."

It looks as if copyright (or "paracopyright") is becoming the broadest set of laws we have.