In case you missed it: Fair use trumps “Perfect Ten”

I found this one interesting — all your porn thumbnails are go(oogle):

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) — A U.S. appeals court lifted a preliminary injunction Wednesday against Google Inc. from showing thumbnail-size photos from sexually explicit Internet sites, but said the company might be liable for allowing links to sites displaying pirated photos.

The case is the latest in which courts are seeking to strike a balance between fostering the free flow of information on the Internet and protecting copyrighted content.

A lower court had found that Google’s (Charts, Fortune 500) thumbnail images violated the copyright of adult magazine and Web publisher Perfect 10 Inc., but said the Internet search company was probably not responsible for displays of the underlying images from Perfect 10’s Web site.

The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals based in San Francisco reversed those findings on Wednesday.

“We conclude that Perfect 10 is unlikely to be able to overcome Google’s fair use defense and, accordingly, we vacate the preliminary injunction regarding Google’s use of thumbnail images,” Sandra Ikuta wrote for a three-judge panel.

Link.

Share This Post