Under the precedent of this German court, Google is liable for their "overviews", and thus MacIsaac would have a strong case. The logic is sound and hopefully courts in other countries will agree. (Such libel and defamation is occurring constantly because it's how the product works.)
A German regional court has ruled that Google is directly liable for the content of its AI search overviews. According to the court, previous limited liability protections for search engine operators don't apply to AI overviews. In this case, Google's AI had falsely linked two publishers to fraud and made claims that didn't appear in any of the linked sources. The ruling could set a precedent for AI-generated content liability worldwide.
Indeed this fellow has filed a defamation suit against Google. It is important to note that the suit has been filed in Ontario, Canada, and not in the United States. I suspect he has a rather better chance up north than he would here.
www.theguardian.com/music/2026/m...
www.theguardian.com
Ashley MacIsaac, who is seeking $1.5m in civil lawsuit, says inaccurate information led to concert cancellation
This is definitely going to be an issue that will be resolved soon.
www.cbc.ca/news/enterta...
Cape Breton fiddler Ashley MacIsaac says he may have been defamed by Google after it recently produced an AI-generated summary falsely identifying him as a sex offender.
