Unlike the other cases I will discuss in my paper, MGM v. Grokster actually appears to contradict my thesis.  Grokster distributed free software products that allowed computer users to share electronic files through peer-to-peer networks.  MGM sued Grokster for their users' copyright infringements.  They claimed that Grokster knowingly and intentionally distributed their software to enable their users to reproduce and distribute their copyrighted works.  The Supreme Court decided in favor of MGM, which would seem to be bad for Google.

            While both and Grokster and Google seem similar, in fact, their differences, in the eyes of the Court are actually very important.  Both involve a type of peer-to-peer file sharing which may or may not involve items that are copyrighted.  MGM showed that Grokster's services contained more than 90% copyrighted material.  In fact, this information did not surface until the case was brought to the Supreme Court.  Without this information, the Appellate Court decided in favor of Grokster with the main reason being that they distributed non-copyrighted material.  While I have no proof that most of Google's images are in fact not copyrighted, it is Perfect 10's job to bring that information forward.  Since they have not, one can only assume that Google's image search contains mostly Fair Use images.

            Another reason why Google differs greatly from Grokster is the purpose behind their service.  Grokster, following the Napster case, had an advertising campaign targeting the users who were looking for an alternative to Napster.  This means that they were targeting people who had been illegally downloading on Napster.  Hence, their main source of revenue is from the file sharing of copyrighted works.  Google, on the other hand, has shown no evidence of focusing on copyrighted works.  Their technology is set up like Grokster in that they do not always know what links are being shared, but their main focus is greatly different.  It is the difference in philosophies and the users' use of the services that shows that Grokster is not a good comparison with Google.