Copyright in the Information Society – Breaches of Copyright by Search Engines

Using the incommensurable quantity of information in the World Wide Web effectively is almost impossible without calling on search services. Search engine providers have a central function in the structuring of existing knowledge, and for many Internet users a search engine is, in fact, the starting point every time they look into the Internet.

The way search engines function technically involves an automatic search of all websites. Examining the websites for content is impossible in that process. The content found is held in a buffer and, when they are called up by the user, so-called hit lists, which contain short extracts from the contents found or also so-called thumbnails, that is greatly reduced versions of images published in the internet, are displayed, as well as links to the respective websites.

This technical functioning could breach copyright in multiple ways. This PhD-project investigates a search engine’s possible breaches of copyright and, taking account of the constitutional significance of search engines for public communication, tries to demonstrate possible new solutions.