Google SerpApi lawsuit will continue after scraping case dismissal

Google plans to keep the Google SerpApi lawsuit alive after a federal judge dismissed its DMCA claims at an early stage, a setback for the search company’s attempt to use copyright law against automated scraping of search results. The case matters for AI, search and data companies because it tests whether platforms can use anti-circumvention law to restrict access to public web data that appears inside search products.

Google sued SerpApi in December, accusing the company of bypassing anti-scraping systems and selling access to scraped Google search results through what Google called an unauthorized Google Search API service. Google argued that those controls help protect copyrighted material that may appear in search results, including content licensed for knowledge panels.

A judge granted SerpApi’s motion to dismiss last week, finding that Google had not shown standing under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act because it did not own the material in the search results and had not shown it was acting for rights holders. Google has 21 days to amend its complaint.

Why did Google sue SerpApi?

Google claims SerpApi’s scraping bypassed technical barriers, violated its terms and forced Google to absorb the cost of “billions” of bot searches while interfering with relationships with rights holders. The DMCA issue is narrower: the law can prohibit bypassing technological measures that protect copyrighted works, but Google search results themselves are not copyrighted.

José Castañeda, a Google spokesperson, told Ars Technica that Google will file an amended complaint and said the court rejected nearly all of SerpApi’s other legal arguments about standing. He said Google remains committed to protecting its services and partners from unauthorized access.

Meredith Rose, senior policy counsel at Public Knowledge, told Ars Technica that Google’s DMCA theory is unusual and that the early dismissal was a meaningful win for SerpApi. Rose said Google’s problem was that it had not alleged enough about what copyrighted material its anti-scraping measures were protecting.

Where Reddit fits into the scraping fight

Reddit filed a related lawsuit in October against SerpApi and Perplexity, alleging scraping of Reddit content that appears in Google results. Google cited Reddit’s case when it announced its own lawsuit, saying it was acting as a last resort against malicious scraping.

Reddit’s case is pending, and SerpApi has also moved to dismiss it. Rose told Ars Technica that Google’s loss does not help Reddit because Reddit cannot claim to own or exclusively license the content in Google search results, and because the Google ruling focused on who can sue under the DMCA.

Reddit did not respond to Ars Technica’s request for comment. In a court filing before a hearing last week, Reddit said it was ready to address how the Google ruling affected its case. SerpApi said Reddit was not among those present in the courtroom and said the judge appeared focused on whether Reddit’s agreement with Google authorized Google to protect copyrighted content.

What is at stake for AI web scraping?

SerpApi told Ars Technica that Google and Reddit are trying to use the DMCA to control public Internet content they did not create or own. The company said its customers, including Nvidia, Uber and Adobe, rely on structured access to search data, and that the litigation has created uncertainty even as its business has continued to grow.

The immediate legal path for Google appears limited to knowledge panel content that it can tie to rights holder authorization. Rose said that argument could create risk for Google if it suggests knowledge panels contain copyrighted material beyond what Google has licensed, because that could invite a separate fair use dispute.

The broader fight is about whether high-volume automated access to public web data will remain available for AI training, search products, SEO tools, research, archiving, journalism and public health reporting. Rose said publishers and platforms have increasingly tried to restrict scraping since 2023, producing what she described as a re-enclosure of parts of the web.

SerpApi said it hopes Google drops the case but is prepared to continue defending itself. The next concrete step is Google’s amended complaint, which will show how far the company can narrow its DMCA theory after the dismissal.

This story draws on original reporting from Ars Technica.