Perfect 10, Inc. v. Amazon. Com, Inc. Case Brief
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Case Brief Summary & Legal Analysis
tl;dr: A search engine operator (Google) was sued by a copyright holder (Perfect 10) for infringement. The court held that displaying thumbnail images is a fair use, and linking to full-size infringing images does not constitute direct infringement, though it may create secondary liability.
Legal Significance: This case established the influential “server test” for direct copyright infringement online and affirmed that a search engine’s use of thumbnail images is a transformative fair use. It also clarified the standards for secondary copyright liability for online service providers.
Perfect 10, Inc. v. Amazon. Com, Inc. Law School Study Guide
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Case Facts & Court Holding
Key Facts & Case Background
Perfect 10, Inc. owned copyrights to photographs of nude models, which it sold through a subscription website. Unauthorized third-party websites republished these images. Google’s Image Search automatically crawled the web, creating and storing low-resolution “thumbnail” copies of these images on its own servers. When a user searched, Google displayed these thumbnails. Clicking a thumbnail initiated an “in-line link” and “framing” process: Google’s webpage would frame content, but the user’s browser would retrieve the full-size infringing image directly from the third-party website’s server, not Google’s. Google did not store the full-size images. Perfect 10 also alleged that Google profited from this activity through its AdSense program, where Google shared advertising revenue with third-party websites, some of which hosted the infringing images. Perfect 10 notified Google of the infringing activity and subsequently sued Google and Amazon.com (which used Google’s search results) for direct and secondary copyright infringement, seeking a preliminary injunction.
Court Holding & Legal Precedent
Issue: Is an internet search engine directly liable for copyright infringement when it displays thumbnail images stored on its servers or provides in-line links to full-size infringing images stored on third-party websites, and can it be held secondarily liable for facilitating access to those infringing images?
The court held that Google’s display of thumbnail images was a direct Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut e
IRAC Legal Analysis
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Legal Issue
Is an internet search engine directly liable for copyright infringement when it displays thumbnail images stored on its servers or provides in-line links to full-size infringing images stored on third-party websites, and can it be held secondarily liable for facilitating access to those infringing images?
Conclusion
This decision provides foundational principles for applying copyright law to the internet, Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip e
Legal Rule
Under the Copyright Act, a party directly infringes the public display right Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, conse
Legal Analysis
The Ninth Circuit established the "server test" to determine direct liability for Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum. Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore
Flash-to-Full Case Opinions
Flash Summary
- The “server test” determines direct infringement: liability for displaying an image