An adult magazine is suing Microsoft over copyright
infringement after the software giant referenced pictures on its
search engine that were illegally posted online through other
websites.
The case against Microsoft alleges that its
MSN image search engine creates unauthorised thumbnails of
content owned by Perfect 10 and includes links to see full-size
versions - on other websites - of the images for free.
Norm Zada, president of Perfect 10, alleges Microsoft's search
engine, as well as those of Google and Amazon.com, have caused his
company to lose £2m a month.
The case highlights the difficulties of protecting digital
content and maintaining rights management,
something which Microsoft itself has invested in.
As web applications are used to create mash-ups,
protecting intellectual property online has become a priority
for many companies.
Similar
cases have been brought against Google's search engine. Judges
cited fair-use principles and the benefits that search engines
provide to the general public, as well as the fact that the search
engines did not store the illegal content themselves.
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