EFF: Digital Copyright Battle Puts Linking at Risk

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

Begin forwarded message:

From: EFF Press <press () eff org>
Date: July 21, 2006 10:52:53 AM EDT
To: presslist () eff org
Subject: [E-B] EFF: Digital Copyright Battle Puts Linking at Risk
Reply-To: press () eff org

Electronic Frontier Foundation Media Release

For Immediate Release: Friday, July 21, 2006

Contact:

Fred von Lohmann
  Senior Intellectual Property Attorney
  Electronic Frontier Foundation
  fred () eff org
  +1 415 436-9333 x123 (office), +1 415 215-6087 (cell)

Jason Schultz
  Staff Attorney
  Electronic Frontier Foundation
  jason () eff org
  +1 415 436-9333 x112

Digital Copyright Battle Puts Linking at Risk

EFF and Libraries Support Google Image Search Against Adult
Website

San Francisco - 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.

For the full amicus brief:
http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/Perfect10_v_Google/ 
EFFPerfect10vGoogleAmicus.pdf

For more on Perfect 10 v. Google:
http://www.eff.org/legal/cases/Perfect10_v_Google/

Deep Link providing analysis of the lower court ruling:
http://www.eff.org/deeplinks/archives/004433.php

For this release:
http://www.eff.org/news/archives/2006_07.php#004836

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 http://www.eff.org/


    -end-

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