A controversial YouTube video could create a crazy new form of copyright

[Commentary] Inside a federal courthouse in Pasadena (CA), Google tried to stop a ruling that could upend the entertainment industry.

The case of Garcia v. Google Inc. was considered in an appeals court, in front of a panel of 11 judges. The plaintiff, an actress in the film Innocence of Muslims, argues that she holds copyright to her five-second performance, and has demanded that Google take the movie down. But Google says that if her lawsuit is taken seriously, then frivolous copyright claims will be used to constrain free speech and debilitate the Internet companies that host it. The Ninth Circuit shouldn’t use the unfortunate facts of her situation to create a new kind of intellectual property, where extras and bit parts carry the creative status of author.

The court may soon cite a dubious copyright to silence protected speech. We should hope they don’t.

[Dec 23]