Out-Law / Your Daily Need-To-Know

Google demands protection from re-filed copyright law suit

10 May 2010, 1:39 pm

Google has asked a court to rule on whether it is liable for pages found on its sites that contain links to unlawfully shared music. The record label dropped the suit but Google has demanded a ruling in its favour.

Blues Destiny Records claimed that because Google's search engine business benefited from satisfying user queries about pirated music, it should bear some responsibility for the copyright infringement.

"Because search engines capitalize on the (search) requests of its users, including those who wish to obtain illegal 'free' copies of copyrighted sound recordings, this use allows the search engines to grow user base and advertising revenue, and thus actively contributes to and induces countless acts of copyright infringement," the suit said.

Though Blues Destiny withdrew its suit in March of this year, its lawyers told Google that it might re-file the suit.

Google has now asked the court to rule on the issue so that it is not left in a position of uncertainty.

"There is an actual and present controversy between Google and BDR [Blues Destiny Records] concerning Google's alleged contributory infringement of the Works in Suit," said Google's filing to the US District Court for the Northern District of California. "Google seeks a judicial determination and declaration of the rights and duties of the parties concerning BDR's allegations of contributory infringement against Google."

Google claims that it is protected by Section 512 of the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), which says that online publishers like Google cannot be held responsible for other people's content on their services unless they are informed about it and fail to take "expeditious" action.

"Google responded expeditiously to BDR's DMCA-compliant notifications of claimed infringement by removing, or disabling access to, links leading to webpages allegedly containing material infringing BDR's copyrights," according to its court application. "BDR's copyright claims against Google are barred … because Google is protected by the DMCA safe harbor."

Google has asked the Court to declare that it has not broken the law or infringed Blues Destiny's copyright by publishing search results containing pages which link to offending material.