Copyright - Content / Google loses case claiming image search service violates copyrights

The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California recently held that Google is engaging in copyright infringement when it displays thumbnails of copyrighted images through its image search service. However the court denied claims that Google’s activities amounted to vicarious and contributory infringement. The Court’s complicated holding is important to Internet infrastructure providers because it adopted a “server based” test in its analysis. The Court held that direct infringement occurred where the content resides, not where it is displayed. In the context of a Google image search, the small thumbnail image resides on Google’s servers. However the full sized image, which is linked through the thumbnail, resides on a non-Google server. Adopting this analysis strengthens the concept that ultimate responsibility for unlawful uses, such as copyright infringement, lies with the entity having control of the servers, rather than the entity through which the information is conveyed. Decision