> Google is massively scraping the web and is building products on top of the data, e.g. flight/hotel search. Why shouldn't we be allowed to do the same? The s

> Google is massively scraping the web and is building products on top of the data, e.g. flight/hotel search. Why shouldn't we be allowed to do the same? The short answer is because they have the muscle and you don't. This was litigated in Perfect 10 v. Amazon, and the only way out was for the panel deciding the case was to claim Google's use is "fair" due to its unprecedented and "transformative" nature, which basically should be read as "we don't want to face the public scorn of being the judges responsible for shutting down Google Images". Such advantage is unlikely to be a factor in less-prominent cases. Even if you believe you can convince a panel of judges that your project specifically meets the four-prong test for fair use, it takes millions of dollars to litigate a case that far, which is well outside the realm of possibility for most independent projects. Flight and hotel search is a good example. Why can't you find Southwest fares on any aggregator? People try to scrape them all the time, and as soon as they come to Southwest's attention, they get C&D'd and shut down. This is a common and well-established practice and hundreds of companies die by it every year.