SAN FRANCISCO, CA -- The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) and a coalition of
library organizations filed a brief with the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in
San Francisco on Thursday supporting Google Image Search in a showdown over
critical digital copyright issues.
Adult entertainment publisher Perfect 10 claims that Google's Image Search
service violates copyright law by indexing Perfect 10 photos posted on
unauthorized websites, then making and delivering thumbnail images of those
photos in its search results. Perfect 10 also contends that Google should
be held liable for any copyright infringement that occurs on sites that Google
links to.
"Perfect 10 wants to hold Google responsible for the misdeeds of the websites
it links to," said Senior Intellectual Property Attorney Fred von Lohmann. "No
search engine could survive if that were the rule, nor, for that matter, could
most bloggers or other web publishers. If Perfect 10 succeeds in
convincing the court that in-line linking and framing of images constitutes a
public display or distribution of copyrighted work, then millions of web
publishers and bloggers will suddenly be on the wrong side of copyright law --
as well as the millions of web users who may follow a link to a website with
infringing content."
The case is on appeal from a lower court ruling issued in February 2006 that
ordered Google to remove links to certain websites containing Perfect 10
photographs pending the outcome of the case. Experts, however, widely viewed the
ruling as a victory for Google, as the court rejected many of Perfect 10
arguments.
Because the appeal promises to clarify the copyright rules that apply to
search engines and other web publishers who link to content on the Internet, it
has attracted the attention of the recording industry, motion picture studios,
professional photographers, and the technology sector, each of which has also
filed briefs in the case.
EFF's amicus brief was filed on behalf of EFF and the Library Copyright
Alliance. Members of LCA include the American Library Association, the Medical
Library Association, the American Association of Law Libraries, the Association
of Research Libraries, and the Special Libraries Association.
A ruling in this case is not expected for several months.
About EFF
The Electronic Frontier Foundation is the leading civil liberties
organization working to protect rights in the digital world. Founded in 1990,
EFF actively encourages and challenges industry and government to support free
expression and privacy online. EFF is a member-supported organization and
maintains one of the most linked-to websites in the world at www.eff.org/
