Transparency ReportGoogle regularly receives requests to delist content from Search results that may infringe on copyright. This report provides data on such requests to delist links from Search. Our goal is to help everyone understand the impact that copyright has on access to content through Google Search.
It is our policy to respond to clear and specific notices of alleged copyright infringement. The form of notice we specify in our web form is consistent with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and provides a simple and efficient mechanism for copyright owners from countries/regions around the world. To initiate the process to delist content from Search results, a copyright owner who believes a URL points to infringing content sends us a takedown notice for that allegedly infringing material. When we receive a valid takedown notice, our teams carefully review it for completeness and check for other problems. If the notice is complete and we find no other issues, we delist the URL from Search results.
This figure is the total number of unique top-level domains (e.g., google.com) from which URLs are requested to be delisted.
The total number of unique individuals or entities that have claimed an exclusive right to content specified in copyright delisting requests.
The total number of unique entities or organizations who have acted on behalf of copyright owners to ask Google to delist Search results due to copyright claims.
Use the dropdown to view the six reporting organizations, specified domains, or copyright owners who have submitted or been cited in the most requests.
Use the search bar to find requests from copyright owners and the reporting organizations that represent them. This data represents the information that people provide when they submit copyright delisting requests through our web form.
These are examples of requests we’ve received from copyright owners and reporting organizations to delist URLs due to copyright. These requests provide a glimpse at the range of delisting requests that we receive and are not comprehensive.
An anti-piracy enforcement firm representing a music label filed a copyright complaint asking to delist a number of articles discussing the release of the work in question, presumably because the word “download” appeared in the text of the article.
We did not delist the URLs from Google Search.
An individual impersonating a major rightsholder sent us a copyright request targeting a number of pages from a single domain. We occasionally see requests from individuals impersonating major rightsholders.
We did not delist the URLs from Google Search.
An anti-piracy enforcement firm representing a music label filed a copyright complaint asking us to delist dozens of homepages containing the word “coffee” in the title. These URLs had nothing to do with the identified copyrighted work.
We did not delist the URLs from Google Search.
An individual impersonating a prominent anti-piracy enforcement firm filed a copyright complaint targeting several URLs from an adult film website. We occasionally receive requests from individuals who impersonate major anti-piracy firms.
We did not delist the URLs from Google Search on the grounds of fraudulent copyright claims.
An anti-piracy enforcement firm representing a film studio filed a copyright complaint identifying dozens of Github URLs to delist, presumably because each URL contained the name of a movie produced by the studio. However, the content at the Github URLs did not contain any allegedly infringing content.
We did not delist the URLs from Google Search on the grounds of abusive takedown practices.
If a takedown notice is valid, copyright law requires that we remove the content from our services—in this case, a URL from Search results. When we take action in response to a copyright notice, we notify the administrator of the affected site through Google’s Search Console. Following DMCA process, a website owner may issue a counter notification. If they believe the content is not infringing or that a notice has been filed in error, the administrator of an affected site or the provider of affected content may also file a counter notification. We evaluate all counter notifications and decide whether or not to reinstate the content. Google does not act as a mediator. If the copyright owner still believes the content is illegal, they can file a lawsuit.
Lumen is a project of Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society. Lumen works with a variety of international research partners to offer information about the global landscape of Internet takedown requests. Lumen posts and analyzes different kinds of requests to remove material from the Internet, including requests based on copyright claims. Lumen receives these requests from participating companies as well as from individuals. When it is possible to do so legally, Google links from search results to the requests published by Lumen in place of delisted content.
Explore Lumen arrow_forwardIt is our policy to respond to clear and specific notices of alleged copyright infringement. Upon review, we may discover that one or more of the URLs specified in a copyright removal request clearly did not infringe on copyrights. In those cases we will decline to delist those URLs from Search. Reasons we may decline to delist URLs include not having enough information about why the URL is allegedly infringing; not finding the allegedly infringing content referenced in the request; and deducing fair use. We also may receive inaccurate or unjustified copyright removal requests for Search results that clearly do not link to infringing content.
Read a 2016 analysis of requests arrow_forwardThe data here helps inform global conversations on the way copyright impacts access to information. Google is actively involved in discussions with policymakers around the world on how to best fight online piracy and connect users with legitimate content.
Explore how copyright affects Google Search results. arrow_forward