Controversial 'Innocence of Muslims' Ruling Reversed By Appeals Court

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On May 18th, the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals took another shot at Cindy Lee Garcia's dispute with Google over whether YouTube must remove "Innocence of Muslims" and chose to reverse its prior holding by deciding against a preliminary injunction. The actress claims that when she agreed to appear in the movie, she didn't know that she was signing up for an anti-Islamic film. She says she signed no waivers and held on to the copyright of her performance. After a trailer of the film was released and sparked worldwide protests, Garcia received death threats, and so she sent a takedown notice to YouTube.

In February 2014, 9th Circuit chief Judge Alex Kozinski stunned many in the industry by determining that Garcia could assert a copyright interest in her performance in the film and that a federal judge was wrong to find against her injunction motion. The decision caused an outcry, especially among tech companies who worried that the decision could empower bit performers and other contributors to copyrighted work to assert their own authorship rights and enjoin anything they didn't like. Today, after the case was reviewed by a fuller panel of judges en banc, the appeals court agrees that Kozinski's decision can't stand. As a result, "Innocence of Muslims" may soon reappear on YouTube.


Controversial 'Innocence of Muslims' Ruling Reversed By Appeals Court