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KickerLJN NewslettersNewsSectionsThe Intellectual Property Strategist

Ninth Circuit Issues Controversial Copyright Decision

BY J. Alexander Lawrence
May 02, 2014

The Ninth Circuit recently issued an opinion in the case of Garcia v. Google, No. 12-57302, 2014 U.S. App. LEXIS 3694 (9th Cir. Feb. 26 2014), arising out of an actress' performance in a highly controversial film entitled The Innocence of Muslims . The Arabic translation of the film went viral on the Internet and led to protests across the Middle East. The film played a pivotal role in the debate over the Sept. 11, 2012 attacks on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi Libya, the 2012 presidential election, and the subsequent demise of Susan Rice's nomination for Secretary of State.

The Ninth Circuit has held that an actress with a small role the film has an independent copyright interest in her performance. Google has sought en banc review. If not vacated, the decision will have important copyright law implications for the motion picture industry, online content providers, and numerous other creators and distributors of copyrighted material.

While not discussed here, the Ninth Circuit's opinion ordering Google to remove all copies of the film from YouTube also raises important First Amendment issues and has drawn opposition from major news outlets.

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