one billion visitors per month.[1] After it was translated into Arabic, the film fomented outrage across the Middle East, and media reports linked it to numerous violent protests. The film also has been a subject of political controversy over its purported connection to the September 11, 2012, attack on the United States Consulate in Benghazi, Libya.
Shortly after the Benghazi attack, an Egyptian cleric issued a fatwa against anyone associated with Innocence of Muslims, calling upon the "Muslim Youth in America[] and Europe" to "kill the director, the producer[,] and the actors and everyone who helped and promoted this film." Garcia received multiple death threats.
Legal wrangling ensued. Garcia asked Google to remove the film, asserting it was hate speech and violated her state law rights to privacy and to control her likeness. Garcia also sent Google five takedown notices under the Digital Millenium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 512, claiming that YouTube's broadcast of Innocence of Muslims infringed her copyright in her "audio-visual dramatic performance." Google declined to remove the film.
On September 19, 2012, Garcia first sued Google, Youssef, and other unnamed production assistants in Los Angeles Superior Court. Her complaint alleged a compendium of torts and assorted wrongdoing under California law. As against Google, Garcia made claims for invasion of privacy, false light, and violating her right to publicity. She brought the same claims against Youssef and added fraud, unfair business practices, slander, and
- ↑ See YouTube.com Press Statistics, https://www.youtube.com/yt/press/statistics.html (last visited May 13, 2015).
