by Traverse Legal, reviewed by Enrico Schaefer - July 4, 2009 - d. Copyright Infringement Lawsuits
The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in 2007 that Goggle’s Image Search does not directly infringe copyrights when copyrighted thumbnails show up in the search results. The Court noted that “a search engine may be more transformative than a parody because a search engine provides an entirely new use of the original work, while a parody typically has the same entertainment purpose as the original work.” The Appeals Court referred back to the lower court's other points of the lawsuit, such as whether Google might be liable for contributory infringement or even if Google could have prevented the infringement, it might qualify for the DMCA safe harbor provisions.
As a founding partner of Traverse Legal, PLC, he has more than thirty years of experience as an attorney for both established companies and emerging start-ups. His extensive experience includes navigating technology law matters and complex litigation throughout the United States.
This page has been written, edited, and reviewed by a team of legal writers following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. This page was approved by attorney Enrico Schaefer, who has more than 20 years of legal experience as a practicing Business, IP, and Technology Law litigation attorney.
