‘Innocence of Muslims’ Actress Files Bigger Federal Lawsuit

An actress in the controversial film “Innocence of Muslims,” which touched off riots in the Middle East, has filed a lawsuit in federal court after last week failing to get a California state court judge to order YouTube to take down the controversial film, The Hollywood Reporter is reporting.

Actress Cindy Lee Garcia refiled her case in federal court on Wednesday asserting more claims, adding to a list of allegations that include fraud, unfair business practices and libel, and now copyright claims.

She wants to prove that actors are entitled to a piece of the copyright when “authoring” their performances on film, something that is a first, according to the trade publication, which focuses on the entertainment industry.

Her suit also asserts that the video-sharing giant YouTube cannot use the safe harbor provision of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act because it failed to expeditiously remove the video at the behest of a copyright owner, namely her, according to THR.

A California insurance agent and Vietnam War veteran is the public face for the anti-Muslim film inflaming the Middle East. Film promoter and insurance agent Steve Klien, who ran in 2002 for insurance commissioner, is the spokesman for the Coptic Christian filmmaker Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, who is in hiding.

Klein, who works with his wife as an insurance agent in Hemet, several miles east of Los Angeles, under Wise Home Insurance Services, has given several interviews about the film and the filmmaker.