Alan Sipress reports that a three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco found Google didn't infringe porn-provider Perfect 10's copyrights when it showed thumbnails of its nude photos link here. Instead it fell within the "fair use" exception in copyright law because the miniatures played a role in the search process and so have a function different from that of the original photos. However, part of the case was sent back for further review, because Google, as well as Amazon, substantially assist Web sites to distribution of infringing copies to a worldwide market. The district judge is to evaluate whether Google or Amazon knew that unauthorized copies of Perfect 10's photos were being made available and failed to take steps to prevent it.