Copyfutures: Google search engine not a "Perfect 10"

April 2005

November 22, 2004

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Google search engine not a "Perfect 10"

Last Friday, the adult entertainment magazine and website Perfect 10, filed a lawsuit against Google, the online search engine, contending the legality of the 800,000 + allegedly unauthorized links Google provides to web users of Perfect 10's models. Perfect 10 claims that these links are negating membership fees and hurting advertising revenue, and is suing Google for 12 counts of IP violations against both the magazine and website, perfect10.com.

This is the first time Google has ever been involved in such a lawsuit, and is faced with allegations that their alleged violation "is devastating to and threatens the existence of Perfect 10’s business.” Perfect 10 executives are requesting a jury trial. They claim that they made 27 attempts to convince Google "to remove the offending Web sites from its index and stop displaying the photographs in its search results." Google, however, did not respond favorably to to request.

The majority of the IP courts involve copyright infringement. The main claim against Google is that search results "pull up photos of nude female models that belong to Perfect 10," which constitutes copyright infringement, according the the lawsuit.

Perfect 10 charges its members a fee of $25.50 per month, and reports that it gets over 100,000 visitors each month. Their main concern with the Google search results is that they "pick up the photos from other Internet locations, which are described in the lawsuit as 'stolen content sites,' or web sites that steal images and allow Internet users to avoid paying subscription or membership fees for members-only pornography web sites." Additionally, Perfect 10 claims that some of the Google search results return links to "password hacking sites" that allow web users to view perfect10.com's images without paying for them.

Although the Google search is not directly targeting the perfect10.com site, it picks up the illegal web content of other sites, which Perfect 10 claims makes the company responsible, both legally and financially, for its' search engine's violations.

Norm Zada, a publisher with Perfect 10, explained that his company was going after Google because of their desire to attract new users with pornographic pictures, thus increasing their revenue while decreasing Perfect 10's. Zada stated that "he fears his company will be driven out of business unless Google is forced to stop distributing the 'free peeks.' "

Perfect 10 models gain recognition and publicity through their images in both Perfect 10 magazine and perfect10.com. The lawsuit is seeking damages for violation of the models' rights, as well as damages for trademark dilution, unfair competition, and unfair use of a registered trademark. Zada added, "It's very difficult to make money when all of your pictures are given away worldwide for free."

Federal law requires that the copyright holder bear the burden of identifying copyright infringement, so Google must respond to the alleged violations Perfect 10 has raised against them. In the past, Google has been known for "quickly removing infringing works from its database," says Jonathan Zittrain, co-founder of the Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School. "Google gets tons of notices and generally listens to them," Zittrain said. "I'd be surprised if they weren't listening to these."

Posted by Phil Ortiz on November 22, 2004 at 10:03 PM in Copy Litigation | Permalink

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November 22, 2004

Google search engine not a "Perfect 10"

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