Google can provide image search results which showing nude thumbnail-size photos from sexually explicit adult Internet sites or pornography sites, ruled the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco by a three-judge panel. In year 2006, a US lower court Los Angeles District Court concluded that Google’s thumbnail images violated the copyright of adult magazine and Web publisher Perfect 10 Inc, and granted a partial preliminary injunction that had prohibited Google from displaying thumbnail-size photographs of images owned by Perfect 10 Inc. that other sites had improperly posted. But the injunction was stayed pending further legal review, which meant Google continued to display the thumbnail naked sex images.

The latest court ruling effectively overturns that injunction, as the higher court concludes that Google could legally display the adult images under the fair use doctrine of copyright law. “We conclude that the significantly transformative nature of Google’s search engine, particularly in light of its public benefit, outweighs Google’s superseding and commercial uses of the thumbnails in this case,” said a presiding judge.

However, the legal battle with Perfect 10, which boasts its nude models as “The World’s Most Beautiful Natural Women” who claimed to be naturally ‘built’ without any plastic surgery or airbrushing is not about to finish. Lower court has been asked to re-examine if Google might be liable for allowing links to sites displaying pirated photos, as Google has substantially assists websites to distribute their infringing contents to a worldwide market and assists a worldwide audience of users to access infringing materials.

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