A lawsuit against Google Inc. of copyright infringement has been dismissed by a federal judge, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Several writers, publishers and the Agence France-Presse news alleged that Google's search services violate copyright laws.

Judge R. Barclay Surrick ruled that Google's temporary storage of web pages, a practice known as "caching," did not constitute direct infringement of copyright. Surrick compared Google's activities with those of internet service providers, which transmit and temporarily store information but are indifferent to content.