Google's aim is to
help users discover information as quickly and efficiently as possible.
Sometimes the information they seek is in written or audio form, and
sometimes the information they seek is visual - which may take the form
of photographs, designs, artworks or other types of imagery - and we
try to present the information in a way that best answers the user’s
query.
With this in mind,
we launched our Image Search service in 2003, which presents users with
a selection of reduced-resolution thumbnail images relating to their
search query. Users can then click through to the site that hosts the
image to see it in full-size or to see the content around it. Millions
of users find this service helpful - they can quickly find exactly what
they want, and many site owners do too - it’s another means through
which Internet users can discover their sites. Website owners have
complete control over what Google will crawl on their site: with a
simple set of tools called robots.txt they can notably tell Google (and
other search engines) not to crawl the images on their site.
We are heartened by
the German Supreme Court´s ruling today that Google Image Search does
not infringe copyright. The case was brought to court by an artist who
had uploaded photos of her work (large paintings) to her own website.
She then claimed for copyright infringement against Google as the
images were displayed in our image search results.
Today´s ruling
makes it clear not just for Google, its users in Germany and all owners
of websites containing images, but also for all providers of image
search services operating in the country: showing thumbnail images
within search results is legitimate and millions of users in Germany
benefit from being able to discover visual information at the click of
a mouse.
We still have to
wait for the full reasoning behind the decision. What we know today:
thousands of websites and companies in Germany will be able to benefit
from Google Image Search in the future as well. News websites on the
Internet, online providers of pictures and posters, artists,
photographers, designers and many more who depend on the web for their
livelihoods can go on using the service as a significant distribution
platform.
Posted by Dr. Arnd
Haller, Managing Counsel, Google Germany GmbH