Google and Reddit’s DMCA strategy against web scraping hits a legal wall

Lead

The fight over AI scraping and the open web has produced a notable legal setback for Google, with Reddit watching closely from a similar front. Google sued SerpApi under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, arguing that the company bypassed anti-scraping technology and sold access to Google search results through an unauthorized search API. But a court granted SerpApi’s motion to dismiss early in the case, finding that Google had not adequately shown it had standing to bring the DMCA claim.

Key points

• The dispute centers on anti-circumvention, not ordinary copyright infringement. Google acknowledged that search results themselves are not copyrightable. Its argument instead focused on the idea that its technical barriers protected copyrighted material that may appear in search results, including some licensed material in knowledge panels.
• The court found Google’s theory insufficient. The judge concluded that Google had not shown it owned the relevant content, nor that it was acting on behalf of copyright holders whose works were allegedly being protected.
• Reddit faces a parallel challenge. Reddit has brought a similar case involving SerpApi and Perplexity, claiming scraping of Reddit content surfaced through Google results. A legal expert cited by Ars suggested that Reddit may also struggle to show that it is the copyright owner, exclusive licensee, or party responsible for the protection measure at issue.
• Google still has a narrow path forward. The court gave Google 21 days to amend its complaint. Google says it intends to do so, potentially by arguing that rights holders authorized it to use anti-scraping systems to protect specific licensed content in knowledge panels.

Why it matters

This case matters because it tests whether large platforms can use the DMCA to build legal walls around public-facing web data that they did not necessarily create or own. The DMCA has long been a powerful tool for stopping circumvention of technical protection measures, but applying it to public search results and scraping services is far less straightforward.

For Google, the next step is delicate. If it leans too heavily on the claim that knowledge panels contain copyrighted material, it may need to distinguish between content it has licensed and content assembled algorithmically from other sources. That could invite uncomfortable questions about fair use and licensing.

For SerpApi, the case is framed as a defense of structured access to open web information. The company argues that Google and Reddit are trying to retroactively control content they did not author or own. Whatever happens next, the dispute will influence how courts, platforms, and AI companies think about search data APIs, scraping controls, licensing pressure, and the legal status of public web access.

Source: Ars Technica AI