The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday lifted a preliminary injunction against Google preventing it from displaying thumbnail versions of sexually explicit images owned by adult site Perfect 10. The thumbnail images in question are miniature representations of Perfect 10 photos that are illegally presented on other Web sites. Google indexes and displays them as part its image-search results. Arguing that the thumbnail images are “highly transformative,” the decision handed Google a victory for its fair use defense.
Loading ...
Court OKs Google’s Fair Use of Titillating Thumbnails
Posted by: Katherine Noyes May 17, 2007 02:26 PMThe U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals on Wednesday lifted a preliminary injunction against Google preventing it from displaying thumbnail versions of sexually explicit images owned by adult site Perfect 10. The thumbnail images in question are miniature representations of Perfect 10 photos that are illegally presented on other Web sites. Google indexes and displays them as part its image-search results. Arguing that the thumbnail images are “highly transformative,” the decision handed Google a victory for its fair use defense.