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 that 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 that 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 organisations who have acted on behalf of copyright owners to ask Google to delist Search results due to copyright claims.
Use the drop-down to view the six reporting organisations, 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 organisations 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 that we’ve received from copyright owners and reporting organisations to delist URLs due to copyright. These requests provide a glimpse at the range of delisting requests that we receive and are not comprehensive.
We received a request from a reporter to remove two URLs from Google Search based on copyright infringement of pictures.
We did not delist the two URLs from Google Search because the use of the images appeared to be fair use, as they were included in articles that criticised the reporter.
We received a request from a reporter claiming to represent a model to remove 184 URLs from Google Search based on alleged copyright of the images.
We did not take action on the URLs because there were signals of a potentially abusive webform submission.
We received a request from an individual to remove a URL from Google Search based on a text infringement related to the Ukraine-Russia conflict.
We did not take action on the URL because there were signals of a potentially abusive webform submission.
We received a request from an individual to remove nine URLs from Google Search that constituted press reports about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
We did not take action on the nine URLs because there were signals of a potentially abusive webform submission.
A business posted content from its own website into the comments on a negative review of their business. The business owner then filed a copyright complaint against the review page citing this content in the comments.
We did not delist the URLs from Google Search.
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 the US DMCA process, a website owner may issue a counter notification. If they believe that 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 that the content is illegal, they can file a lawsuit.
Lumen is a project of Harvard’s Berkman Klein Centre 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 analyses 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 Lumenarrow_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 why 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 requestsarrow_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