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To: TChris

Imagine I walk into a computer store and ask for a Compaq computer, and the salesman shows me compaq along with eMachine, Gateway, and Sony.... Is that infringement on Compaq's copyright?


71 posted on 12/16/2004 7:58:34 PM PST by Texaggie79 (Did I just say that?)
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To: Texaggie79
Imagine I walk into a computer store and ask for a Compaq computer, and the salesman shows me compaq along with eMachine, Gateway, and Sony.... Is that infringement on Compaq's copyright?

Google isn't a store. A search engine isn't a salesman. The expectations are different, so I don't think the comparison is valid. If you walk into a Compaq store, and they're selling Dells and Gateways too, in a special, highlighted display, I think Compaq would rightly have a problem with that.

In my mind, when a user specifically enters a trademarked company name into a search engine, they have expressed a specific desire for information on that brand. They have done so at least in part because of the effort and expense of that company in advertising their name. If that user enters the word "computer", like entering your average computer store that sells multiple brands, they would expect to see and be sold multiple brands.

73 posted on 12/16/2004 8:23:06 PM PST by TChris (Most people's capability for inference is severely overestimated)
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