An appeals court ruled in favor of YouTube and Google after an actress demanded the removal of the controversial film called "Innocence of Muslims."
Actress Cindy Lee Garcia claimed to accidentally appear in the 2012 film in which she said the line, "Is your Mohammed a child molester?" Garcia received death threats after her 5-second appearance on screen. She declared that she was informed she'd be playing a role in a completely different film and her lines were dubbed without her knowing.
Last year, the U.S. court ordered removal of the film from YouTube since it mocks the Prophet Muhammad and had caused global riot and violent protests.
According to BBC News, Google said, "We're pleased with this latest ruling. We have long believed that the previous ruling was a misapplication of copyright law."
But despite the victory of this copyright and speech case, there is no decision yet whether to reinstate the film on YouTube.
"The appeal teaches a simple lesson - a weak copyright claim cannot justify censorship in the guise of authorship," Circuit Judge M. Margaret McKeown wrote in the court's opinion.
Judge McKeown further wrote: "In this case, a heartfelt plea for personal protection is juxtaposed with the limits of copyright law and fundamental principles of free speech. We are sympathetic to her plight. Nonetheless, the claim against Google is grounded in copyright law, not privacy, emotional distress, or tort law, and Garcia seeks to impose speech restrictions under copyright laws meant to foster rather than repress free expression."
The judge noted that the filmmaker, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, is in prison for unrelated offenses. On the other hand, Google argued that only Nakoula owns the copyright of the film and Garcia cannot demand its removal.
Reuters reports that Garcia's lawyer wrote in a statement that "the decision short-changes the threats on the life of Cindy Lee Garcia who did not voluntarily participate in the hateful message that the controversial trailer about the Prophet Muhammad espoused around the world."
Many people died in the global protests triggered by the film in September 2012.