German Court Rules Google Image Thumbnails Infringe On Copyright

A German court has thrown a curve at the search industry declaring that thumbnail images of copywritten pictures are illegal and a copyright violation. US law has come down on the side of the search services on this issue, declaring that the use of thumbnail images as part of a search result are a legal use of the proprietary materials but the German courts see it differently.  EU courts have not been overly friendly to Google and the company has lost two similar suits in Germany. Naturally, Google thinks the court decision is bad for netizens but the bigger issue is how the search company will manage evolving, and very different, legal standards in different regions of the world.