"Google and Reddit do not own the Internet," web scraper says after court win "谷歌和Reddit不拥有互联网"，网络爬虫在法院获胜后表示

TL;DR

• Google sued SerpApi for circumventing anti-scraping technology and selling unauthorized access to search results via a "Google Search API," invoking the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).
• A court dismissed Google’s DMCA claim early, ruling that Google lacks standing because it does not own or license the content in search results.
• Reddit filed a similar lawsuit against SerpApi and Perplexity for scraping Reddit content appearing in Google search results, but its case faces similar legal hurdles due to lack of copyright ownership.
• Google plans to amend its complaint to focus on copyrighted content in “knowledge panels,” though this strategy risks exposing Google to potential infringement claims if it admits to using unlicensed material.
• Legal experts argue both companies are misusing the DMCA to control content they don’t own, potentially undermining open web principles.

Why It Matters

This case highlights the growing tension between AI-driven data scraping and intellectual property rights as large language models increasingly rely on publicly available web content. The outcome could set a precedent for how platforms like Google and Reddit legally respond to automated extraction tools, influencing future AI training practices and shaping the boundaries of fair use under copyright law.

Technical Details

• Google’s anti-scraping measures include technical barriers designed to prevent bots from accessing search results at scale, which SerpApi allegedly bypassed through reverse engineering or other circumvention methods.
• The DMCA prohibits trafficking in technologies that circumvent digital rights management (DRM) or access controls, but its application here is contested since Google does not claim ownership over most indexed content.
• “Knowledge panels” are algorithmically generated summaries about entities that may include licensed text, images, or data from third-party rights holders—this narrow category forms the basis of Google’s revised legal argument.
• SerpApi operates as a proxy service allowing developers to programmatically retrieve search engine results without triggering rate limits or detection systems, raising questions about whether such tools constitute legitimate intermediaries or infringing actors.
• Courts typically require plaintiffs to demonstrate direct harm caused by circumvention; Google failed to show it suffered quantifiable financial loss attributable specifically to SerpApi’s actions beyond general competition concerns.

Industry Insight

AI startups building models trained on scraped data should prepare for increased legal scrutiny as tech giants seek new ways to monetize or restrict access to their platforms’ outputs. Companies relying on public datasets must evaluate whether current interpretations of fair use will hold up under evolving case law, especially when those datasets originate from sites actively fighting back against automation. Meanwhile, infrastructure providers offering APIs or scraping services need to carefully assess liability exposure while balancing innovation with compliance risks in an uncertain regulatory landscape.

TL;DR

• Google 起诉 SerpApi 试图阻止 AI 机器人抓取其搜索结果，但法院驳回诉讼，认为 Google 没有版权持有者身份。
• Reddit 也采取了类似法律行动，指控 SerpApi 和 Perplexity 抓取 Reddit 内容，但同样面临法律挑战。
• 法律专家指出，Google 和 Reddit 使用 DMCA（数字千年版权法）的策略存在争议，且可能无法成功。
• SerpApi 表示，这场法律战斗是为了捍卫开放网络，尽管过程成本高昂。
• Google 计划修改诉状，试图通过“知识面板”中的版权内容来继续诉讼，但风险较大。

为什么值得看

这篇文章揭示了大型科技公司如何应对 AI 技术带来的数据抓取挑战，以及他们在法律策略上的尝试与困境。对于 AI 从业者、法律专家和政策制定者来说，了解这些动态有助于把握未来数据使用和版权保护的边界。

技术解析

1. Google 的诉讼策略：Google 声称 SerpApi 绕过了其反抓取技术，并通过未授权的“Google Search API”服务销售搜索结果内容。然而，法院认为 Google 没有版权持有者身份，因此不具备提起诉讼的资格。
2. Reddit 的类似诉讼：Reddit 也指控 SerpApi 和 Perplexity 抓取其内容，但同样面临法律挑战，因为 Reddit 也不是版权持有者或独家许可方。
3. DMCA 的使用争议：法律专家指出，Google 和 Reddit 使用 DMCA 的策略存在争议，因为该法原本设计用于保护版权持有者的权利，而非用于控制非版权内容的抓取。
4. SerpApi 的立场：SerpApi 表示，这场法律战斗是为了捍卫开放网络，尽管过程成本高昂，他们认为这是值得的。
5. Google 的未来计划：Google 计划修改诉状，试图通过“知识面板”中的版权内容来继续诉讼，但法律专家认为这可能带来额外的法律风险。

行业启示

1. 版权与数据抓取的平衡：随着 AI 技术的发展，数据抓取与版权保护之间的平衡将成为行业关注的焦点。公司需要找到合法合规的方式获取和使用数据，避免陷入法律纠纷。
2. 法律策略的风险：大型科技公司在面对新兴技术挑战时，可能会采取激进的法律策略，但这些策略可能存在法律和道德风险，需要谨慎评估。
3. 开放网络的维护：像 SerpApi 这样的公司坚持捍卫开放网络，表明在数据抓取问题上，开放性和创新性仍然是重要的价值主张，行业需要关注如何在保护版权的同时促进技术创新。