{"id":12459,"date":"2026-07-26T06:04:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-25T22:04:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/?p=12459"},"modified":"2026-07-26T06:04:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-25T22:04:11","slug":"google-loses-key-dmca-claims-against-serpapi-in-scraping-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/?p=12459","title":{"rendered":"Google loses key DMCA claims against SerpApi in scraping lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><\/p> <div id=\"articleContent\" itemprop=\"articlebody\"> <div class=\"bialty-container\"> <p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Google\u2019s DMCA claims against SerpApi were dismissed July 20. Google now has 21 days to amend part of its complaint.<\/p> <p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted SerpApi\u2019s motion to dismiss Google\u2019s two claims under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The court also stayed discovery until Google files an amended complaint, if any, and any resulting motion to dismiss is resolved.<\/p> <p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Claims split by content type<\/strong>. The court permanently dismissed the parts of Google\u2019s claims based on Search results that didn\u2019t include copyrighted content.<\/p> <p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The court dismissed the parts of Google\u2019s claims involving Search results with copyrighted content, but gave Google a chance to revise them. The court said Google had not alleged facts showing that SearchGuard, Google\u2019s anti-scraping system, was implemented and functioned \u201cwith the authority of the copyright owner.\u201d<\/p> <p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Google gets another chance<\/strong>. Google may file an amended complaint within 21 days, provided it doesn\u2019t contradict its original allegations. Information showing whether copyright owners authorized Google to use SearchGuard to protect licensed content should already be within Google\u2019s possession, custody, or control, the court said.<\/p> <p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>SerpApi responds. <\/strong>SerpApi CEO Julien Khaleghy said the ruling was \u201ca win not just for SerpApi, but for all who depend on an open internet.\u201d<\/p> <ul class=\"wp-block-list\"> <li>SerpApi said the court rejected Google\u2019s attempt to expand the DMCA to control access to public pages. SerpApi said it would continue supporting developers, AI companies, researchers and businesses that rely on access to public search information.<\/li> <\/ul> <p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"h-serpapi-did-not-win-everything\"><strong>SerpApi didn\u2019t win everything.<\/strong> The court rejected SerpApi\u2019s argument that Google lacked standing under the DMCA because Google didn\u2019t allege that it owned or exclusively licensed the copyrighted material in search results. The court also said Google had alleged enough facts to support an inference that SerpApi circumvented SearchGuard.<\/p> <p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\" id=\"h-catch-up-quick-google-sued-serpapi-dec-19-alleging-the-company-bypassed-searchguard-and-scraped-google-search-results-for-resale\"><strong>Catch up quick.<\/strong> Google sued SerpApi Dec. 19, alleging the company bypassed SearchGuard and scraped Google Search results for resale.<\/p> <ul class=\"wp-block-list\"> <li>SerpApi moved to dismiss Feb. 20, arguing Google was using the DMCA to restrict access to public search results. <\/li> <li>SerpApi also argued Google didn\u2019t own the underlying content displayed in search results and that public pages shouldn\u2019t be treated as protected copyrighted works.<\/li> <\/ul> <p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Why we care.<\/strong> Many search tools rely on automated access to public search results to monitor rankings, competitors, and AI visibility. This case could still shape how much third-party SERP data those tools can collect.<\/p> <div style=\"background: radial-gradient(circle at 30% 40%, rgba(184, 111, 255, 0.15), rgba(0, 169, 255, 0.15) 40%, #CDE8FD 70%); padding: 30px; width: 100%; max-width: 802px; color: #000000 !important; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; margin: 25px 0 30px 0; border-radius: 8px; box-shadow: 0 2px 4px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); position: relative; box-sizing: border-box;\"> <div style=\"width: 100%; max-width: 100%; margin-bottom: 20px; text-align: left; padding-right: 20px; box-sizing: border-box;\"> <p> Own the conversation <span style=\"background: linear-gradient(90deg, #D56EFE 0%, #068EF8 51%); -webkit-background-clip: text; -webkit-text-fill-color: transparent; background-clip: text;\">before your competitors<\/span>. <\/p> <p id=\"semrush-one-subhead\" style=\"font-family: Roboto, sans-serif; font-size: 18px; font-weight: 300; line-height: 25px; margin: 12px 0 0 0; color: #000000 !important;\"> See where your brand appears, where it doesn\u2019t, and exactly how to win more visibility across search, AI, local, social, and every channel that matters. <\/p> <\/p><\/div> <p> <span id=\"semrush-one-cta\" style=\"display: inline-block; background-color: #FF642D; color: white; height: 44px; border: none; border-radius: 5px; cursor: pointer; font-size: 16px; padding: 0 24px; font-weight: bold; white-space: nowrap; box-sizing: border-box; text-decoration: none; line-height: 44px;\">Start your free trial<\/span> <\/p> <\/p><\/div> <\/div> <hr\/> <p class=\"article-disclosure\"> <em>Search Engine Land is owned by Semrush. We remain committed to providing high-quality coverage of marketing topics. Unless otherwise noted, this page\u2019s content was written by either an employee or a paid contractor of Semrush Inc.<\/em> <\/p> <hr\/> <div class=\"author-about py-4\"> <div class=\"card bg-light\"> <div class=\"card-body p-2 clearfix\"> <div class=\"authorImage float-start me-3 mb-2\"> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-fluid rounded avatar-border flex-shrink-0\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/07\/Danny-Goodwin-scaled.jpeg.webp\" alt=\"Danny Goodwin\" width=\"140\" height=\"140\" title=\"Google loses key DMCA claims against SerpApi in scraping lawsuit\u63d2\u56fe\" \/> <\/div> <div class=\"author-body\"> <div id=\"authorBio-23878\" class=\"author-desc\"> Danny Goodwin is Editorial Director of Search Engine Land &amp; Search Marketing Expo &#8211; SMX. He joined Search Engine Land in 2022 as Senior Editor. In addition to reporting on the latest search marketing news, he manages Search Engine Land\u2019s SME (Subject Matter Expert) program. He also helps program U.S. SMX events. <\/p> <p>Goodwin has been editing and writing about the latest developments and trends in search and digital marketing since 2007. He previously was Executive Editor of Search Engine Journal (from 2017 to 2022), managing editor of Momentology (from 2014-2016) and editor of Search Engine Watch (from 2007 to 2014). He has spoken at many major search conferences and virtual events, and has been sourced for his expertise by a wide range of publications and podcasts. <\/p> <\/div><\/div> <\/p><\/div> <\/p><\/div> <\/div> <p> <!-- START SIDEBAR LOWER SPACE --><\/p> <p><!-- END SIDEBAR LOWER SPACE --><\/p><\/div> <p>News#Google #loses #key #DMCA #claims #SerpApi #scraping #lawsuit1785017051<\/p> ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Google\u2019s DMCA claims against SerpApi were dismissed July 20. Google now has 21 days to amend part of its complaint. The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California granted SerpApi\u2019s motion to dismiss Google\u2019s two claims under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The court also stayed discovery until Google files an amended complaint, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12460,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[2094,20945,75,932,1967,6422,83,13153,4088],"class_list":["post-12459","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-careers","tag-claims","tag-dmca","tag-google","tag-key","tag-lawsuit","tag-loses","tag-news","tag-scraping","tag-serpapi"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12459","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12459"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12459\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12459"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12459"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/longzhuplatform.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12459"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}