Armpit found - too busy suing Google to post:
Google Is Accused Of Copyright Infringement
online.wsj.com
By a WALL STREET JOURNAL Staff Reporter
November 22, 2004; Page B4
A Beverly Hills, Calif., adult-entertainment company sued Google Inc., accusing the search firm of copyright and trademark infringement and unfair competition related to the display of photos by Google's image-search site.
The adult-entertainment firm, Perfect 10 Inc., said in a complaint filed Friday in U.S. District Court in the Central District of California in Los Angeles that Google's Web search engine improperly displays copyrighted images from Perfect 10's magazine and Web site, and passwords to its subscription Web site, in response to user queries.
Google's computers retrieve the passwords and images, primarily photos of female models, not from Perfect 10's Web site but from other Web sites that have pirated them, according to Perfect 10. Perfect 10 charged in its complaint, which requests unspecified damages, that it would be "virtually impossible" for consumers to locate the stolen content if Google didn't direct them to it. The complaint also said Google profits by selling advertising linked to the search results.
A spokesman for Google , Mountain View, California, said it hadn't reviewed the complaint.
Perfect 10 President Norm Zada said the company had "pretty much given up" on pursuing the pirate Web sites themselves, because they were usually abroad and difficult to locate. Mr. Zada said Perfect 10 first contacted Google about the issue in 2001. He said Google recently made a small number of Perfect 10 images inaccessible but that thousands remained accessible through the search site.
Google is "putting them on their servers knowing in most cases these pictures are unauthorized," Mr. Zada said.
Further info on Norm "Armpit" Zada:
celebrityphoto.com |
