Google Hit With Second Lawsuit Over 'Innocence Of Muslims'

A second actor who appears in the 14-minute “Innocence of Muslims” video has sued Google for copyright infringement.

Gaylord Flynn alleges in his complaint, filed last week U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, that Google's search results pages display links to pirated copies of the controversial clip. He contends that Google refused to remove those links from its search results pages.

“The film is vile and reprehensible,” Flynn says in his complaint. “This lawsuit is not an attack on the First Amendment, nor on the right of Americans to say what they think, but does request that the offending content be removed from the Internet.”

Flynn's lawsuit comes six months after a three-judge panel of the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals allowed actress Cindy Lee Garcia to pursue a copyright infringement case against Google for hosting the clip on YouTube.

That ruling appeared to mark the first time a federal appellate court held that actors potentially have a copyright interest in their performances. The decision has drawn criticism from digital rights groups, law professors and other companies -- including Netflix -- who say that the ruling gives actors unprecedented power to remove clips from online platforms.

Chief Circuit Judge Alex Kozinski suggested in the ruling that the case was an outlier. He said that copyright interests typically are contractually assigned, and that where there isn't a contract actors usually implicitly authorize the use of their performance.

Google has asked the entire 9th Circuit to re-hear the case. The court hasn't yet ruled on that request.

Like Garcia, Flynn alleges that he was duped into appearing in the film. He says he was “led to believe that he was providing a dramatic performance in an adventure film titled 'Desert Warrior.'” Flynn adds that he didn't agree to be in a “religiously oriented film” or “one that propagates hate speech.”

He also says that he has received death threats since the film appeared online. “Plaintiff's life changed substantially as a direct result of the film in that he is now considered a target and the safety of those in his presence cannot be guaranteed,” he alleges.

The incendiary clip first appeared on YouTube in September 2012. At the time, it was blamed for sparking a wave of protests in the Mideast.

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