Jerry Brito: When Copyright Smothers Free Expression

Innocence of MuslimsInnocence of Muslims, the low rent,
14-minute propaganda video released in 2012, has sparked a new
controversy. This time it’s not protests in the streets of
Benghazi, but shock and indignation among copyright experts. The
Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has ruled that one of the video’s
actresses has a copyright interest in it and can therefore force
YouTube to take it down. If this ruling is allowed to stand and it
becomes precedent, get ready to see dozens, if not hundreds, or
lawsuits by actors claiming they own copyright in their
performances, separate and apart from the copyright in the movie
itself. Worse, writes Jerry Brito, by creating a new right in
actors’ performances, this case may make any number of works
unavailable at the behest of actors.

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