YouTube Wrongly Forced to Remove Anti-Muslim Movie Trailer, Appeals Court Rules
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Version 0 of 1. LOS ANGELES — An anti-Muslim movie trailer that set off protests in 2012 returned to the spotlight on Monday when a federal appeals court ruled that YouTube should not have been forced to remove the crude video from its website. In a victory for free speech advocates, an 11-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in San Francisco rejected a copyright claim by Cindy Lee Garcia, an actress who appeared unwittingly, she said, in the “Innocence of Muslims” trailer. Ms. Garcia had earlier won the forced removal from YouTube of the video, which depicted the Prophet Muhammad as a bloodthirsty thug. “In this case, a heartfelt plea for personal protection is juxtaposed with the limits of copyright law and fundamental principles of free speech,” Judge M. Margaret McKeown wrote in the ruling. “The appeal teaches a simple lesson — a weak copyright claim cannot justify censorship.” Ms. Garcia, who was supported by some Hollywood guilds in her case, pursued legal action after the trailer resulted in death threats. (The full movie has never materialized.) She said the “Innocence of Muslims” filmmaker, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, tricked her into appearing and secretly dubbed over her dialogue with anti-Muslim rhetoric. Ms. Garcia, who was paid $500 for her work, thought she was a bit player in a sword-and-sandal movie called “Desert Warrior.” Last year, a divided three-judge Ninth Circuit panel ruled in Ms. Garcia’s favor, basing its opinion on copyright law. Google, which owns YouTube, vowed to fight on, with support from technology companies including Facebook and Twitter. Bruce Ewing, a partner in the New York firm Dorsey Whitney who specializes in trademark law, particularly as it relates to the entertainment industry, said in an email that Monday’s ruling was “a resounding victory for Google that will also be viewed very favorably by film and television studios.” It was unclear when or if the “Innocence of Muslims” video would return to YouTube. In 2012, it led to wide protests, beginning in Cairo and spreading to countries including Iran, Pakistan and Malaysia. In a statement, YouTube said only: “We have long believed that the previous ruling was a misapplication of copyright law. We’re pleased with this latest ruling by the Ninth Circuit.” A lawyer for Ms. Garcia, Cris Armenta, had no immediate comment. The vote on Monday’s ruling was 10-1. In his dissenting opinion, Judge Alex Kozinski wrote, “In its haste to take Internet service providers off the hook for infringement, the court today robs performers and other creative talent of rights Congress gave them.” Judge Kozinski was the author of the majority opinion in last year’s opposite ruling. |