Google Cache Doesn't Constitute Copyright Infringement

by Glen Shapiro, LawAndTax-News.com, New York

30 January 2006

Ruling earlier this month in Nevada's District Court, Judge Robert Jones stated that Google's cache function does not constitute an infringement of copyright.

Such a claim was made by author and attorney, Blake Field, who argued that by caching copyrighted materials from his website, Google had broken the law.

However, Judge Jones denied that this was the case, suggesting that internet users who click on links to access cached pages are instead responsible, by merit of accessing the temporary copy of the website.

In findings issued on January 12, Judge Jones observed that:

"Without the user's request the copy would not be created and sent to the user, and the alleged infringement at issue in this case would not occur."

He also observed that it is possible for website operators to 'opt out' of the caching system, and that Mr Field must have been aware of this fact, but failed to ensure that the necessary tags were contained in his web pages to prevent them from being copied.

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