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Federal Judge Dismisses Portions of Publishers’ Lawsuit Against Google

By  |  June 9, 2025

A federal judge in Manhattan has dismissed several allegations in a lawsuit filed by four major educational publishers against Google, while allowing central claims of trademark and contributory copyright infringement to move forward, according to Reuters.

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    The case, brought by Cengage Learning, McGraw Hill, Macmillan Learning, and Elsevier, accuses Google of facilitating access to pirated electronic textbooks. The publishers argued that the company knowingly promoted links to unauthorized copies of their materials, which appear prominently in search results—often above legitimate sources—thereby undermining their sales and intellectual property rights.

    In a ruling issued Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Jennifer Rochon determined that the plaintiffs failed to sufficiently support their claims that Google engaged in vicarious copyright infringement or violated New York state law. Per Reuters, Judge Rochon found that Google did not exercise control over the alleged infringing sellers, which is a necessary element for vicarious liability.

    However, the judge declined to dismiss the publishers’ trademark infringement allegations. She concluded that Google might bear responsibility for how third-party sellers misuse the publishers’ trademarks in ways that could mislead consumers. Additionally, a separate claim of contributory copyright infringement—alleging that Google knowingly enabled the piracy—was not dismissed, as the company had not yet asked for it to be thrown out.

    Related: Judge Dismisses Key Claims Against Google in Publishers’ Piracy Suit

    The publishers welcomed the court’s decision to let some of their claims proceed. In a statement quoted by Reuters, they said the dismissal of certain allegations “will not save Google from having to explain why a company with its resources decided to side with blatant piracy, rather than with creators and copyright holders.”

    Google has denied all allegations in the lawsuit, asserting that the e-books in question are not sold through its platform and that it does not earn revenue from those transactions. As of Thursday, a spokesperson for the company had not provided public comment on the ruling, per Reuters.

    The lawsuit, originally filed in 2024, reflects growing concern among publishers about the prevalence of pirated content on digital platforms and the role that search engines play in directing users to such material.

    Source: Reuters