Federal Judge: Google infringed copyright with Google Images
I’m sure everyone will be talking about this tommorow, both webmasters & the mainstream press. From the AFP – US District Judge Howard Matz has ruled that Google infringed on Perfect 10’s copyright by indexing images with Google Images. This is of particular note:
Matz’s ruling also notes that because Perfect 10 sells similar-size versions of its images to cell phone users through a separate company, Fonestarz Media, Perfect 10 stands to lose revenue if its request for a court order blocking Google’s use of the thumbnails is not granted.
I’m aware of more than a few sites out there that have relied on fair use for mobile content. That does not establish a good case history if they ever ended up in court!
Google has been sued by AFP over Google News and also won a copyright lawsuit involving its website caching.
[...] links in this story may lead to adult content As I reported earlier, a Judge a has ruled Google infringed on Perfect 10’s copyright thr [...]
Pingback by » Google Images Copyright takes a whole new twist - Web Publishing Blog — February 23, 2006 @ 3:20 pm
[...] Far from being a lawyer, I am not 100% certain this would hold up. First of all, the images are big. Google Images max out at 124 pixels wide, Google News at like 79 pixels. These are thumbnails. Weblog Inc’s 425 pixels wide might be a bit of a “stretch” for fair use… considering that image fair use has been called in to question over mobile right use, things are even greyer. [...]
Pingback by » How to (legally?) have a picture for every single blog post - Web Publishing Blog — August 2, 2006 @ 2:12 pm