A US court ruled against search giant Google on Friday, February 28, to keep an anti-Muslim video posted on its YouTube video sharing platform while the case is brought to a federal appeals court, Reuters reported.
Google did not convince the 9th US Circuit Court of Appeals that taking out the film "Innocence of Muslims" was a violation of the US Constitution's protection on the freedom of speech, voting 2-1 against the tech giant earlier this week. Google contended, in documents submitted to court on Thursday, February 27, that the public should still be able to see the video, which had created an uproar in the Muslim world, while it files for a bigger panel comprised of 11 judges in the 9th Circuit to look at the matter again. The court, however, did not assent to the search giant's request.
Calling the court's opinion "unprecedented" and "sweeping," Google said in the Thursday court filing that "devastating effects" can only stem from the court order if it was upheld. "Minor players in everything from Hollywood films to home videos can wrest control of those works from their creators, and service providers like YouTube will lack the ability to determine who has a valid copyright claim," Google said.
The case was brought by Cindy Lee Garcia who expressed her objection to the film after finding out that a clip she had made for another film was included in the controversial video. The YouTube trailer, which treated Prophet Mohammed as a sexual deviant and a fool, and which lasted for 14 minutes, had Garcia appearing for five seconds and seemingly asking, "Is your Mohammed a child molester?" A lot of Muslims consider it a form of blasphemy to depict Mohammed in any way.
The court panel agreed with Garcia's claim that her appearance in the trailer was "independently copyrightable and that she retained an interest in the copyright," the report said.
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