The local government of New Haven, Conn. is pushing for a policy that will prevent theaters in featuring loud movies. The decision was made to protect moviegoers from possible hearing loss.
The proposed legislation is receiving opposition from the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) arguing that this policy violates the First Amendment Rights. According to the associate, the policy is controlling freedom of expression seen on movies and their trailers.
On the other hand, the Public Safety and Security Committee are reviewing the bill and if approved, movies whose noise exceeds 85 decibels will be banned in Connecticut theaters. The 85 decibel threshold was set by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health stating that noise should be kept below this level to avoid hearing loss.
"Hopefully this will be a wake-up call to the theater owners and the MPAA to get their act together and do something that's good for the public and still will satisfy their needs," William Young said to the Associated Press. Young is a chemical industry consultant, a Stamford resident, and one of the proponents of the new policy.
Senior vice president of the MPAA, Vans Stevenson, also stated that the noise issue for movies is not really monitored. However, he also told the committee that the new policy is not necessary and it goes against the standards used by theaters and companies in regulating noise. He explained that this standard was designed to help theater managers to address complaints about noise and there are guidelines set to reduce the volume levels for movies.
"Certainly no one is going to do anything that would have a hint of being harmful," Stevenson said to the Associated Press. "We've gone to great lengths to make sure that average is in an acceptable range that is not harmful."
