Canadian Judge Denies Google’s Motion to Dismiss Perfect 10 Lawsuit

BEVERLY HILLS, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Perfect 10, Inc., the former publisher of Perfect 10 Magazine, announced today that the Canadian Federal Court has denied Google’s attempt to dismiss Perfect 10’s copyright infringement lawsuit against Google in Canada. “We are heartened by this ruling,” said Dr. Norm Zada, President of Perfect 10 and a former professor at Stanford and Columbia Universities. “The court rejected Google’s argument that Perfect 10 could not sue Google in Canada because Perfect 10 was in litigation against Google in the United States,” said Zada. “Perfect 10’s case against Google in the United States has been going on for almost six years,” Zada added.

“I have sent more than 500 notices of infringement to Google”

In its ruling, the Canadian court stated, “I am satisfied, that the claim for copyright infringement in either jurisdiction arises by virtue of rights created by statute – separate legislative schemes in Canada and the United States, that in cases of alleged infringement, give rise to different causes of action, different defenses and different remedies.” The court further stated that “I am not satisfied that the claims, based on two different statutes, are the same.”

“Google continues to display approximately 22,000 Perfect 10 thumbnails in Google Image Search results, including in Canada, and refuses to remove those images,” says Zada. “This case is inherently different from the Viacom v. Google case, where the Judge apparently felt that Google expeditiously processed Viacom’s notices. Our experience with Google is that Google processes almost no notices from small companies,” Zada adds. “I have sent more than 500 notices of infringement to Google,” Zada said. “I basically do a Google Image search, cross off the images Perfect 10 does not own, and send an Adobe copy of that Google web page to Google, with the infringing images clearly marked. Google can clearly see which images are infringing and where they are located. Yet Google has refused to process those notices,” Zada says.

Perfect 10 was forced to close Perfect 10 Magazine, a magazine which featured scantily-clad images of some of the world’s most beautiful natural models, in June 2007. It still runs its website, perfect10.com, which now has a dating component.

Perfect 10 contends that a substantial portion of Google’s yearly revenue is attributable to Google’s unauthorized use of intellectual property on a massive scale. “I believe that Google makes hundreds of millions of dollars each year by placing unauthorized Google Ads around hundreds of thousands of images, including Perfect 10 images, and by placing such ads around tens of thousands of celebrity images, without the permission of the celebrity. What Google does in cyberspace it would never get away with in the real world,” says Zada.

Perfect 10 is represented in its Canadian lawsuit by Christopher Wilson, of Bull, Housser & Tupper LLP in Vancouver, B.C.

For more information contact Norm Zada, Ph.D., at 310-205-9988. Dr. Zada may be reached at [e-mail].