Google to appeal German copyright decisions

Google lost two copyright cases in Germany on Monday but the search company reportedly plans to appeal.

A German court ruled that Google violated the copyright of Michael Bernhard by displaying one of his photographs as a preview thumbnail, according to the Bloomberg news service.

Separately, a German court ruled in favor of Thomas Horn, who owns the copyright to some German comics that appeared in Google's search results.

In Bernhard's case, the court ruled "that it doesn't matter that thumbnails are much smaller than the original pictures and are displayed in a lower resolution," Bloomberg reported.

Google told the blog paidContent.org: "We believe that services like Google Image Search are entirely legal. Today's decision is very bad for Internet users in Germany."

[Travis Ernst]

Sadly this is not on US soil. I hope it starts to set a standard for artists rights to materials that are often gleaned (STOLEN) on the net.<br /><br />The bill that was voted down thankfully (Orphan works) in the US did nothing to protect graphic artists in cases where their works were stolen, nor did it set standards for paying back when discovered. <br /><br />This case is a step in the right direction for protecting artists from theft of their materials and works that otherwise world be sold in stores.

[nicmart]

Yes, Travis, this is a great victory for artists specializing in low-res thumbnails.

[marc_90292]

I respectfully disagree. If the reporter is correct, the German Court ruled that the use of an Icon as link to the original work is a violation of copyright law. That means that the mere use of the headline of an article as link to the article itself would also be a violation, which means that the entire Internet is based upon copyright violations. <br />Has anyone ever considered that the Internet is the foundation for a widespread - and I may add cheap - Public Relation system that increases the potential for expanded sales?

[irondog1970]

People should read the Gridlock Economy by Michael Heller. There has to be a common ground that will both protect the artists &#38; copyright holders as well as benefiting the public with the free flow of information. While the tragedy of the commons is certainly real; but there is also just as real tragedy of the anticommons.