Court Rules Google Cache of Website Pages Not Copyright Infringement

The important case, Blake A. Field vs. Google Inc., was recently decided by summary judgment in favor of Google regarding the issue of whether caching of website pages was copyright infringement. The reasoning and interpretation of judicial precedent in the case have wide-reaching applicability and portend the handling of legal issues in suits against Google for its Google Print library digitization project (renamed as Google Book Search), although of course the cases differ factually. We find that the court's reasoning in Field v. Google follows the same lines of logic that we have previously posted to LawPundit, especially regarding the issue of "transformative use" and the precedent in Kelly v. Arriba.

See our postings at:

Google Book Search replaces Google Print Nov. 24, 2005

Transformative Use Justifies GooglePrint Scans of Entire Books as Fair Use Sept. 28, 2005

and chronologically, for more issues:

European Union (EU) Digital Libraries Initiative - i2010: DIGITAL LIBRARIES Oct. 8, 2005

A European Perspective on Author's Guild v. Google Print Oct. 5, 2005

Yahoo Starts Open Content Alliance - A Library and Archive Digitization Project Oct. 4, 2005

Twenty Key Questions for Author's Guild v. Google Oct. 3, 2005

Google and University of Michigan Library Agreement as a .pdf Oct. 3, 2005

Google Print or Library - Who is the "Copier" according to Law? Oct. 1, 2005

A Misunderstanding with Scrivener's Error Sept. 29, 2005

Bloggers re Author's Guild v. Google Print Sept. 29, 2005

Author's Guild v. Google Print (GooglePrint) Sept. 29, 2005

Transformative Use Justifies GooglePrint Scans of Entire Books as Fair Use Sept. 28, 2005

Author's Guild Sues Google for Copyright Infringement - The Author's Guild does NOT represent THIS Author Sept. 26, 2005.

A good analysis of the ruling is found at Out-Law.com, a website of the international law firm, Pinsent Masons. The article also comments on the status of search engines in the UK and links to the UK's E-commerce Regulations (free registration is required to view this Out-Law.com guide).