Is Google legal?
<p>Google is indexing other people's websites across the planet. To some extents, the images on Google images search are also taken from websites contents. And all of that happens without owner's consent or any sort of agreement. (I saw some of my website content on google search image). So my questions is: </p>

<ol>
<li>To which extent someone can use other people's web content?</li>
<li>What rules are regulating search engines?</li>
</ol>

<p>The images and text are copyright (if they are). What Google does with them is fair use/dealing.</p>

<p>It works like this: if Google's bot can find them then you (the owner) have put them on the World Wide Web <em>presumably</em> because you want people to see them, effectively you have put them on public display. Google is assisting you in that endeavour by enabling people who are looking for what you are displaying to find it. Their use of your material <em>enhances</em> its value to you which is a rock solid defence.</p>

<p>If you don't want your stuff on public display then a) don't put it on a public part of the web - there are plenty of private cloud storage facilities or B) stick a file in your website that tells bots not to index it.</p>

copyright