Google LLC v. SerpApi, LLC

Google LLC has commenced proceedings against SerpApi, LLC in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, alleging violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The complaint asserts that SerpApi operates a commercial "scraping" service that circumvents Google's technological protection measures to access copyrighted content from Google's search results pages, contending that this constitutes unlawful circumvention under federal copyright law. According to the pleadings, Google incorporates licensed copyrighted content including photographs, images, and merchant-supplied pictures across its search services, Knowledge Panels, Google Maps, and Google Shopping platforms. The claim further alleges that SerpApi developed methods to bypass Google's "SearchGuard" technological measure through automated queries employing misrepresentations and evasions, then offers the scraped content to customers for commercial gain. Claims advanced include circumvention of technological measures under 17 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(1)(A) and trafficking in circumvention technology under 17 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(2). Google seeks statutory damages of between $200 and $2,500 per act of circumvention, asserting causes of action under the Copyright Act's anti-circumvention provisions.

This summary is provided for educational and research purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Allegations described are those made in the filings. Please consult the underlying source documents.