Court Rules on Image Searching

Court backs thumbnail image linking | CNET News.com: “Search engines’ display of miniature images is fair use under copyright law, a federal appeals court ruled Monday, but the legality of presenting full-size renditions of visual works is yet to be determined.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision is a partial win for defendant Arriba Soft–an image search engine now known as Ditto.com–in its case against photographer Leslie Kelly. Kelly sued Arriba Soft in April 1999 for copyright infringement when the company’s software had recorded miniatures, or thumbnails, and full sizes of Kelly’s digital photos and made them accessible via its search engine.”