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Perfect 10, Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc.

Perfect 10, Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc.

United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit

November 15, 2006, Argued and Submitted, Pasadena, California; December 3, 2007, Amended

No. 06-55405, No. 06-55406, No. 06-55425, No. 06-55759, No. 06-55854, No. 06-55877

Opinion

 [*1154] 

AMENDED OPINION

IKUTA, Circuit Judge:

In this appeal, we consider a copyright owner's efforts to stop an Internet search engine from facilitating access to infringing images. Perfect 10, Inc. sued Google Inc., for infringing Perfect 10's copyrighted photographs of nude models, among other claims. Perfect 10 brought a similar action against Amazon.com and its subsidiary A9.com (collectively, "Amazon.com"). The district court preliminarily enjoined Google from creating and publicly displaying thumbnail versions of Perfect 10's images, Perfect 10 v. Google, Inc., 416 F. Supp. 2d 828 (C.D. Cal. 2006), but did not enjoin Google from linking to third-party websites that display infringing full-size versions of Perfect 10's images. Nor did the district court preliminarily enjoin Amazon.com  [**4] from giving users access to information provided by Google. Perfect 10 and Google both appeal the district court's order. We have jurisdiction pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1292(a)(1). 1

 [*1155]  The district court handled this complex case in a particularly thoughtful and skillful manner. Nonetheless, the district court erred on certain issues, as we will further explain below. We affirm in part, reverse in part, and remand.

Background

Google's computers, along with millions of others, are connected to networks known collectively as the "Internet." "The Internet is a world-wide network of networks . . . all sharing a common communications technology." Religious Tech. Ctr. v. Netcom On-Line Commc'n Servs., Inc., 923 F. Supp. 1231, 1238 n.1 (N.D. Cal. 1995). Computer owners can provide information stored on their computers to other users connected to the Internet through a medium called a webpage. A webpage consists of text interspersed with instructions written in Hypertext Markup Language ("HTML") that is stored in a computer. No images are stored on a webpage; rather, the HTML instructions on the webpage provide an address for where the images are stored, whether in the webpage publisher's computer or some other computer. In general, webpages are publicly available and can be accessed by computers connected to the Internet through the use of a web browser.

Google  [**6] operates a search engine, a software program that automatically accesses thousands of websites (collections of webpages) and indexes them within a database stored on Google's computers. When a Google user accesses the Google website and types in a search query, Google's software searches its database for websites responsive to that search query. Google then sends relevant information from its index of websites to the user's computer. Google's search engines can provide results in the form of text, images, or videos.

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508 F.3d 1146 *; 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 27843 **

PERFECT 10, INC., a California corporation, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. AMAZON.COM, INC., a corporation, A9.COM INC., a corporation, Defendants-Appellees. PERFECT 10, INC., a California corporation, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. GOOGLE INC., a corporation, Defendant-Appellee. PERFECT 10, INC., a California corporation, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. GOOGLE INC., a corporation, Defendant-Appellant. PERFECT 10, INC., a California corporation, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. GOOGLE INC., a corporation, Defendant-Appellee. PERFECT 10, INC., a California corporation, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. GOOGLE INC., a corporation, Defendant-Appellant. PERFECT 10, INC., a California corporation, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. GOOGLE INC., a corporation, Defendant-Appellant.

Subsequent History: As Amended December 10, 2007.

On remand at, Motion granted by Perfect 10, Inc. v. Google, Inc., 2008 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 79200 (C.D. Cal., July 16, 2008)

Summary judgment granted by Perfect 10, Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc, 2009 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 42341 (C.D. Cal., May 12, 2009)

Prior History:  [**1] Appeal from the United States District Court for the Central District of California. D.C. No. TCV-05-04753-AHM, D.C. No. CV-04-09484-AHM. A. Howard Matz, District Judge, Presiding.

Perfect 10, Inc. v. Amazon.com, Inc., 487 F.3d 701, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 11420 (9th Cir. Cal., 2007)

CORE TERMS

infringing, images, users, district court, websites, thumbnail, fair use, webpage, copies, full-size, search engine, display, transformative, contributory, third-party, photographic, distribute, stored, browser, communicate, linking, cache, instructions, preliminary injunction, succeed, download, purposes, copyrighted work, electronic, in-line

Copyright Law, Civil Infringement Actions, Jurisdiction, Federal Court Jurisdiction, Registration Requirement, Remedies, Injunctions, Civil Procedure, Appeals, Standards of Review, Abuse of Discretion, Injunctions, Preliminary & Temporary Injunctions, Clearly Erroneous Review, De Novo Review, Copyright Infringement Actions, Burdens of Proof, Defenses, Fair Use, General Overview, Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Safe Harbor Provisions, Elements, Copying by Defendants, Ownership, Scope of Copyright Protection, Ownership Rights, Online Infringement, Determinations, Prohibited Conduct, Displays, Business & Corporate Compliance, Infringement, Trademark Law, Likelihood of Confusion, Consumer Confusion, Distribution, Fair Use Determination, Factors, Defenses, Presumptions, Secondary Liability, Contributory Infringement Actions, Torts, Intentional Torts, Intent, Vicarious Liability Actions