Information Research Weblog

Google is getting its underwear in a twist about the use of 'google' as a verb and Slashdot reports that its lawyers have called upon Paul McFedries who maintains the 'Wordspy' site to cease and desist from entering the word in his lexicon.

However, another correspondent to the American Dialect Society mailing list has pointed out that, in US copyright law, a verb cannot be protected by copyright, so we can all go on happily googling and the lawyers are just trying it on. Isn't it wonderful when the rug is pulled from under the lawyers? :-)