Copyright Issues Regarding Google Images and Google Cache

Abstract:     
This chapter considers two elements of Google’s activity from a copyright law point of view. The first one is Google Images — the search engine for images. The second one is Google Cache — the repository of cached web pages and other documents that Google stores and uses to build its index, and more specifically the feature of Google Web Search that consists of providing a link to those copies so that users can access them instead of, or in addition to, the original web page. After a brief introduction, the chapter focuses on the underlying technological aspects, which tend to be key for the outcome of most court decisions. Then it considers separately the issues of direct and indirect copyright liability raised by these activities, highlighting some of the most relevant case law in Europe and in the US. In the last part, this chapter examines how the safe harbours from liability are applied by courts to exempt Google from both primary and secondary copyright liability.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 34

Keywords: copyright, Google, thumbnails, images, cache, safe harbors, ISP liability, DMCA

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