Google likely infringed magazine's copyright

A federal judge in Los Angeles said yesterday that Google's image search likely infringed the copyright of adult magazine Perfect 10 by displaying thumbnails of images for which the magazine charges, the Los Angeles Times reports.

In ruling on Perfect 10's request for a preliminary injunction, U.S. District Judge A. Howard Matz said that Google would likely lose at least part of the copyright infringement case when it is heard on its merits. The judge told the parties that he plans to grant Perfect 10 a preliminary injunction and asked the two companies to negotiate an agreement by March 8.

The Los Angeles Times story goes on:

"If upheld, the judge's preliminary ruling could throw a kink into the way Mountain View, Calif.-based Google collects and displays photographs in the image portion of its search engine. Lawyers not involved with the case said it would have little effect on Google's overall business, which generated $6.1 billion in revenue last year."