COPYCENSE

This is an action for copyright infringement brought by plaintiff Blake Field against Google Inc. Field contends that by allowing Internet users to access copies of 51 of his copyrighted works stored by Google in an online repository, Google violated Field’s exclusive rights to reproduce copies and distribute copies of those works. On December 19, 2005, the Court heard argument on the parties’ cross-motions for summary judgment.

Based upon the papers submitted by the parties and the arguments of counsel, the Court finds that Google is entitled to judgment as a matter of law based on the undisputed facts. For the reasons set forth below, the Court will grant Google’s motion for summary judgment: (1) that it has not directly infringed the copyrighted works at issue; (2) that Google held an implied license to reproduce and distribute copies of the copyrighted works at issue; (3) that Field is estopped from asserting a copyright infringement claim against Google with respect to the works at issue in this action; and (4) that Google’s use of the works is a fair use under 17 U.S.C. § 107.

The Court will further grant a partial summary judgment that Field’s claim for damages is precluded by operation of the “system cache” safe harbor of Section 512(b) of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”). Finally, the Court will deny Field’s cross-motion for summary judgment seeking a finding of infringement and seeking to dismiss the Google defenses set forth above.

U.S. District Court, District of Nevada. Blake A. Field v. Google, Inc. (.pdf, 201 KB) Jan. 12, 2006.

Update:

The Patry Copyright Blog. Google Caches One. Jan. 26, 2006.

Attribution: CopyCense first learned of this decision through a posting on the EFF Deep Links Web site.

CopyCense™: K. Matthew Dames on the intersection of business, law and technology. A business venture of Seso Digital LLC.