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Should Google be sued for copyright infringement?

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Well, here I was thinking Google owned everything, and then I learned that they’re actually being sued for copyright infringement! Last year, Google used a backdrop picture of Jimi Hendrix and John Coltrane to announce the beginning of the Google Music Service.

The picture was owned by photographer Jim Marshall, who was known for photographing some of Rock’s most iconic moments. He was actually the only photographer allowed back stage for the last show of The Beatles.

Now, what makes this case controversial is that the photographs used to advertise Google Music were not straight reproductions of the picture. They were made by artist Thierry Guetta, AKA “Mr. Brainwash,” who uses appropriation art which is in a legal grey area. What he does is basically photocopy pictures, makes some alterations using bright colors or piecing together thousands of vinyl records onto the image, and calls it a day.

I don’t know what to think, really. Should Google be sued, or should Mr. Brainwash be sued? He’s the one who, like every teenage girl on Facebook with the picnik app, takes pictures and edits them a little bit to call them art. All Google did was accept the picture he produced for them. I think it’s pretty unfair to Google, but it is not like they’re short on cash or anything.

Do you think Google is responsible for the copyright infringement?

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Adam LeMoine is a music enthusiast, who has been playing music for 16 years and has been following music of all kinds since age 4.

[PHOTO: WENN.com]

Tags: copyright infringement, Google, Google lawsuit, Jim Marshall, Jimi Hendrix, John Coltrane, Mr. Brainwash, music, video

Comments (9)

leo4400 on Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at 1:07 pm

mess with google is like sell ur soul to devil have u ever read the term of use or privacity? I tried once I couldnt so one day I found a summery of them it almost says that they could check all the sttuf u have that if u have a google mail account or youtube. but they should both be jude one for publish and the other one for break the copyright, but google will have the money to pay just look a video of their facilities and they are amazing
illini-joe on Friday, May 4, 2012 at 5:03 pm

because they used stolen property. If you buy a car from someone and it turns out it was stolen, you get punished for having a stolen car.
LeMoine on Friday, May 4, 2012 at 4:26 pm

Illini-joe, it’s true that they used the image without the original creators permission, but that’s because someone else copied the image and gave it to google as his own.

Why should google be the one in trouble if they aren’t the one that stole it?
rrrcccbbb on Friday, May 4, 2012 at 4:01 pm

i dont know…lol
illini-joe on Friday, May 4, 2012 at 12:49 pm

Google is clearly guilty. They used a photo without paying a license fee to the original creator. A clear breach of copyright law. Art should not be circulated free, it is intellectual property.
Jasmine_The_Great on Thursday, May 3, 2012 at 7:09 pm

i still wear diapers to bed.
trytobeanonymous on Thursday, May 3, 2012 at 5:24 pm

Classic case of Copy Wrong. Nothing Untalented about image manipulation either there is a lot more to it than what this clearly biased article states. Google is an internet Giant who hosts images and share media. Knowledge is free and Google is a great source of information. Photography is an art form so it should be allowed to circulate the internet freely as long as no profiteering is made off the image.

I hope one of these days I get to meet the people who write up these ridiculously written segments and punch them in their smug face. I am tired of these constant “OOOOHh contoversy” and taking large complex matters such as political debates, scientific theories or philosophy and condensing them into stupid unintellectual questions to appeal to the mindless masses of idiots out there.
LumpyLanny on Thursday, May 3, 2012 at 5:08 pm

your photo is black and white is that an edit?
MakeMemories on Thursday, May 3, 2012 at 3:10 pm

“Well, here I was thinking Google owned everything, and then I learned that they’re actually being sued for copyright infringement!”

My God, the quality of these articles just continues to get better and better. …Freshmen writers on the newspaper I’m the editor for write better leads than this.

“He’s the one who, like every teenage girl on Facebook with the picnik app, takes pictures and edits them a little bit to call them art.”
^Also, I’m a teenage girl and don’t do anything like this. If I’m supposed to take anything seriously from these “articles” (ha!), don’t make such gross generalizations.