9th Circuit En Banc Hears Arguments In "Innocence of Muslims" Case

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals yesterday, sitting en banc, heard arguments in Garcia v. Google Inc.  Ten of the 11 judges on the en banc panel heard the oral arguments live.  It was announced that Judge Berzon was unable to be in the courtroom, but would listen to the video of arguments at a later date. The video of the full oral arguments is available on the 9th Circuit's YouTube channel.  In the case, the 3-judge panel, in a 2-1 decision, held that a preliminary injunction should be granted to require the controversial film "Innocence of Muslims" to be removed from YouTube. The suit was filed by Cindy Lee Garcia who acted in a portion of the film, had received death threats because of it, and claimed that the video posting amounted to a copyright infringement of her performance. (See prior posting.)  All the pleadings and amicus briefs filed with the 9th Circuit are available here. Courthouse News Service reports on yesterday's oral arguments. [Thanks to How Appealing for the lead.]