LOS ANGELES (AP) — A
14-minute film trailer blamed for protest violence in the Middle East
will remain on YouTube, after an actress lost her legal challenge to
take it down.
Cindy Lee Garcia, who appeared in "Innocence of
Muslims," asked a judge to order the video removed in a Los Angeles
County court Thursday.
But Superior Court Judge Luis Lavin
rejected Garcia's request because she wasn't able to produce any
agreement she had with the makers of "Innocence of Muslims" and the man
behind the film hadn't been served with a copy of her lawsuit.
Garcia's
attorney, Cris Armenta, told reporters that her client plans to return
to court in three weeks with more evidence to bolster her case.
The
video posted to YouTube has been linked to protests that continue to
rage across the Middle East. The White House has asked YouTube to take
it down and the company has refused, saying it doesn't violate its
content standards.
While Thursday's legal ruling might further
antagonize protesters, the lawsuit had little chance of succeeding
because of a federal law that protects third parties from liability for
content they handle, legal experts said.
"From the beginning this
was a Hail Mary pass," said Jeremiah Reynolds, a Los Angeles attorney
who specializes in intellectual property and First Amendment cases. "I
think they hoped the judge would have enough sympathy for this woman to
have him take the video down."
Garcia is suing for fraud and
slander against Internet search giant Google, which owns YouTube, and
Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the man behind the video who has gone into
hiding since it gained attention.
The 14-minute trailer depicts Muhammad as a womanizer, religious fraud and child molester.
Garcia
claimed she was duped by Nakoula and that the script she saw referenced
neither Muslims nor Muhammad. She also said her voice had been dubbed
over after filming.
Her lawsuit mirrors similar claims made by
those who said they were fooled by actor Sacha Baron Cohen during the
making of "Borat" and "Bruno." The British comedian was unsuccessfully
sued by some non-actors who appeared in his movie who weren't familiar
with his outlandish characters.
"Although this is a much more
serious situation, the (legal) analysis should be the same," Reynolds
said. "It's an act that is protected by the First Amendment."
Cindy
Cohen, the legal director for San Francisco-based Electronic Frontier
Foundation, said Garcia does have a claim against the filmmaker but not
against Google.
"The law protects Google here because they aren't
the producers of the film," Cohen said. "You don't want a situation
where the host is responsible for the content. Then nobody would ever be
a host."
Garcia's lawsuit contends that keeping the film online
violates her right of publicity, invades her privacy rights and that
post-filming dialogue changes cast her in a false light.
"I think
we need to take it (the film) off because it will continue to cause more
problems," she said. "I think it's demoralizing, degrading."
Garcia said she has been threatened at least eight times and has called the FBI but she hasn't heard back from federal agents.
Armenta
argued in court that her client was used a puppet to make the film, and
she was clearly defrauded and lied to by the people behind the movie.
"She did not sign on to be a bigot," Armenta said.
Timothy
Alger, the lawyer representing Google at Thursday's hearing, said the
company shouldn't be responsible for what transpired between Garcia and
the filmmakers. He said no matter how someone views the content "it is
something of widespread debate."
YouTube has blocked users in
Saudi Arabia, Libya and Egypt from viewing the clip, as well as
Indonesia and India, because it violates laws in those countries.
Garcia
could seek to have a judge grant an injunction against Nakoula to order
him to remove the video, but it wouldn't accomplish what Garcia set out
to do.
"It would have little to no effect because other websites are showing the film," Reynolds said. "It would be a moot point."
___
AP Entertainment Writer Anthony McCartney contributed to this story.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.
