In a decision that clears the way for search engines to display thumbnail images of copyrighted material in search results without infringing on copyrights, a federal appeals court sided with Google, ruling against Perfect 10 magazine.

In 2004, Perfect 10, which publishes sexually explicit images, sued Google, alleging that the search giant's practice of displaying thumbnail pictures the magazine's content within its results pages, violated the company's copyright.

A lower court had blocked Google from displaying Perfect 10 content, but yesterday a three-judge panel for the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, reversed the rulings, saying that thumbnails constitute fair use.

"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," Judge Sandra S. Ikuta wrote for the panel. FULL STORY

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A lot of people surf Google images for free porn. Google, and the surfer, benefit from the work of content producers. Where is the content producer remedied for the use, and profit created, of his work?

Do you think this was a just ruling?