Last Updated on April 18, 2014, 2:15 pm ET
On Friday, April 11, 2014, the Association of Research Libraries (ARL), along with the American Library Association, Association of College and Research Libraries, and other organizations, joined an amicus brief authored by the Electronic Frontier Foundation in Garcia v. Google. The brief urges the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to reconsider its decision in this copyright case in which a 2-1 panel ruled in favor of Cindy Lee Garcia, one of the actors in the film Innocence of Muslims. Garcia claimed a copyright interest in her performance after being tricked into appearing in a five-second clip of the film and subsequently sought takedown of the film from YouTube, which is owned by Google.
The decision by the three-judge panel raises serious concerns as it alters the traditional contours of copyright and impacts the future of online free speech. The brief urges the Ninth Circuit to rehear this case en banc, so that the full court may reconsider these important issues.
