The court distinguished using a thumbnail from use of a full
size image, which would constitute a copyright infringement.
A photographer sued Arriba Soft, the company behind a search
engine now known as Ditto.com. He claimed that the company
infringed his copyright in reproducing his photographs in search
results without obtaining his permission.
The court took the opposite view and considered that the use of
the thumbnail images made the internet easier to use, and had no
impact on the photographer’s ability to sell the original full size
photographs.
Under UK law, such use would amount to an infringement of
copyright.
