Google fights takedown of anti-Islamic 'Innocence of Muslims' video over copyright claim

Google is reportedly fighting a court order asking it to remove all the copies of anti-Islamic film 'Innocence of Muslims' from its YouTube service.

The search giant has filed an emergency motion that would allow it to keep the video available until a final decision has been made in a copyright case involving one of the film's actresses.

According to The Verge, Cindy Lee Garcia, who played a bit part in the film, asserted that she had been hired to act for what she believed was a film called "Desert Warrior", and is likely to succeed in her attempt to sue Google and YouTube for copyright infringement.

Although, Google has removed the video, it has argued that letting an actor "own" the video in which they appear will cause "irreparable harm" to First Amendment rights.

Meanwhile, Judge Alex Kozinski, who ordered a temporary ban on the video because Garcia claimed receiving death threats, said that "Innocence of Muslims" bore so little resemblance to the intended product that Garcia could reasonably say she had never consented to appearing.

Google said that this would set a dangerous precedent and under the panel's rule, minor players in everything from Hollywood films to home videos could wrest control of those works from their creators, and service providers like YouTube would lack the ability to determine who has a valid copyright claim.

The report said that the counterargument, made by the appeals court, is that the First Amendment doesn't cover copyright infringement.