'Innocence of Muslims' to stay up on YouTube, judge rules

GlobalPost

"Innocence of Muslims," the movie that sparked protests throughout the Muslim world, will stay up on YouTube despite a lawsuit by one of the film's actresses. 

Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge Luis Lanvin struck down the suit against YouTube's owner Google by actress Cindy Lee Garcia, who claimed that the movie "changed grotesquely" to "make it appear that [she] voluntarily performed in a hateful anti-Islamic production," TMZ reported

"The request for a temporary restraining order is denied," Judge Lanvin said. The plaintiff has not shown a likelihood to prevail on the merits." 

Garcia sued the film’s producer as well as YouTube, arguing that the anti-Islam movie was endangering her and the cause of death threats against her, the Los Angeles Times reported

More from GlobalPost: 'Innocence of Muslims' actress Cindy Lee Garcia sues filmmaker

Google's lawyer Timothy Alger argued that an actor's rights don't protect that person from how a film is viewed by the general public, Reuters reported

"If we viewed it that way we'd say that Arnold Schwarzenegger as a cyborg in 'Terminator' was a factual statement about Arnold Schwarzenegger," said Alger. 

Garcia was also reportedly denied because she did not serve Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, the man behind the film, with a copy of the lawsuit, the Associated Press reported

Nakoula has been in hiding since his film ignited violent protests in much of the Middle East, resulting in at least 17 deaths, including US Ambassador Christopher Stevens, according to the Los Angeles Times. 

Garcia's civil lawsuit is the first known court action linked to the video's production, Reuters reported. 

More from GlobalPost: Should ‘Innocence of Muslims’ be censored?

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