Google Faces Shocking Setback in Scraping Battle as Court Rejects Key DMCA Claims Against SerpApi

Google’s 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’s motion to dismiss Google’s 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.

Claims split by content type. The court permanently dismissed the parts of Google’s claims based on Search results that didn’t include copyrighted content.

The court dismissed the parts of Google’s 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’s anti-scraping system, was implemented and functioned “with the authority of the copyright owner.”

Google gets another chance. Google may file an amended complaint within 21 days, provided it doesn’t contradict its original allegations. Information showing whether copyright owners authorized Google to use SearchGuard to protect licensed content should already be within Google’s possession, custody, or control, the court said.

SerpApi responds. SerpApi CEO Julien Khaleghy said the ruling was “a win not just for SerpApi, but for all who depend on an open internet.”

• SerpApi said the court rejected Google’s 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.

SerpApi didn’t win everything. The court rejected SerpApi’s argument that Google lacked standing under the DMCA because Google didn’t 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.

Catch up quick. Google sued SerpApi Dec. 19, alleging the company bypassed SearchGuard and scraped Google Search results for resale.

• SerpApi moved to dismiss Feb. 20, arguing Google was using the DMCA to restrict access to public search results.
• SerpApi also argued Google didn’t own the underlying content displayed in search results and that public pages shouldn’t be treated as protected copyrighted works.

Why we care. 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.