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Google Sues for Click Fraud and Gets Sued for Copyright Infringement over Image Search
Internet search giant Google is involved in two recent lawsuits (as a plaintiff in one and as a defendant in the other) involving novel claims.
In the first lawsuit, Google seeks compensatory and punitive damages from Auctions Expert International, a Texas-based Internet business, for click fraud. Google alleges that Auctions Expert International created its web site and signed up to display Google's targeted text advertising for the sole purpose of fraudulently clicking on advertisements to generate profit through Google's pay-per-click system. Click fraud - inflating traffic to Internet advertisements or websites to generate revenue from pay-per-click advertising services - has occurred for as long as businesses have been advertising on the Internet, but Google's action is one of the first civil cases claiming damages for such activity. Although Google's actions are meant, at least in part, to assure advertisers about the integrity and security of its advertising system, some commentators suggest that the circumstances of this case demonstrate that Google's advertising system is not as secure as Google would like advertisers to believe.
The second lawsuit is an action against Google by Perfect 10, the publisher of an adult web site and magazine. Perfect 10 alleges that Google has infringed its copyright and trade-marks in various ways, including by creating unauthorized copies of images through its "image search" function and providing links through its search results to other web sites that contain unauthorized copies of images. Perfect 10 holds Google responsible for the activities of these other sites because Google receives advertising revenues from them. The lawsuit also contains the potentially controversial claim that Google has the right and ability to supervise and control the infringing conduct of these third-party websites but has refused or failed to do so.
Both of these lawsuits involve interesting novel Internet-related claims and, if they continue through to judgment, will contribute to the continuing evolution of Internet law.
For additional information, visit:
http://cyber.law.harvard.edu/blogs/gems/palfrey/Perfect10ComplaintPDFCropped.pdf