SerpApi Challenges Google's Web Scraping Lawsuit Under DMCA Provisions

SerpApi has formally requested a California federal court to dismiss Google's lawsuit alleging DMCA violations, framing the tech giant's position as fundamentally contradictory to its own business practices. The web scraping service contends that Google's claims misinterpret the Digital Millennium Copyright Act's anti-circumvention provisions while ignoring historical precedent regarding public data access.

Regulatory Action: DMCA Interpretation at Issue

Google's December 2025 lawsuit (PDF) alleges SerpApi violated two specific DMCA provisions:

1. Circumvention of Technological Measures (17 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(1)(A))
2. Trafficking in Technology for Circumvention (17 U.S.C. § 1201(a)(2))

Google claims SerpApi bypassed its proprietary SearchGuard protections to harvest copyrighted material from search results, including licensed images and real-time data featured in Knowledge Panels. According to Google General Counsel Halimah DeLaine Prado, this constitutes unlawful appropriation of content that "willfully disregards the rights and directives of websites and providers."

What DMCA Compliance Requires

SerpApi's motion to dismiss (PDF) hinges on precise legal definitions within the DMCA, which specifies circumvention as:

• Descrambling scrambled works
• Decrypting encrypted works
• Avoiding, bypassing, removing, deactivating, or impairing technological measures

The company maintains its operations involve none of these actions: "We access publicly visible web pages without breaking encryption, disabling authentication systems, or accessing private data. Solving JavaScript challenges or CAPTCHAs through automated browsers constitutes mimicry—not circumvention under DMCA's definition as 'the electronic equivalent of breaking into a locked room.'"

Legal Precedents and Compliance Timeline

SerpApi cites two key cases supporting its position:

1. hiQ Labs, Inc. v. LinkedIn Corp.: Affirmed lawfulness of scraping publicly accessible data
2. Impression Products, Inc. v. Lexmark International: Limited applicability of DMCA to public works

This legal challenge occurs amid increasing judicial skepticism toward expansive DMCA interpretations. In December 2025, U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein rejected (PDF) similar claims against OpenAI, ruling that bypassing robots.txt directives doesn't constitute DMCA circumvention.

Compliance Implications

1. Immediate Requirement: Companies deploying anti-scraping measures must verify protections meet DMCA's strict definition of "technological measures" involving encryption or access impairment
2. Q2 2026: Expected court ruling on motion to dismiss will clarify permissible scraping boundaries
3. Long-term Strategy: Organizations relying on public data harvesting should document:
   • Avoidance of authentication bypass
   • Exclusive use of publicly visible interfaces
   • Non-interference with site functionality

The Electronic Frontier Foundation emphasizes broader stakes: "Scraping publicly available information maintains internet freedom. Overly expansive DMCA interpretations chill lawful research and innovation," said staff attorney Tori Noble. As AI bots increasingly mimic human behavior, effective protection may require contractual agreements or authenticated access systems envisioned by DMCA—not blanket scraping prohibitions.

With SerpApi's dismissal motion pending and Reddit pursuing parallel claims (Reddit amended complaint PDF), this case establishes critical precedent for data-driven businesses navigating compliance in an era of contested information access.