Google Lawsuit Against SerpApi over Scraping Search Results Has Been Dismissed
6 hours ago
- Google sued SerpApi for scraping, but a court dismissed most claims under the DMCA.
- The judge ruled that plain search results (URLs, snippets, factual data) are not copyrighted works.
- Google cannot use copyright law to block scraping of uncopyrighted data like aggregated search results.
- For third-party content like knowledge panels, Google failed to show authorization from copyright holders.
- The court allowed Google 21 days to refile if it can prove copyright owner authorization.
- Circumvention techniques (spoofing, rotating IPs, CAPTCHAs) are illegal only if protecting copyrighted works with permission.
- The ruling is seen as a win for scrapers, though not monetarily material for Google.