Transparency Report

Content delistings due to copyright

Google 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.

Copyright and 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.

URLs requested to be delisted
11,640,635,558

Specified domains
5,524,265
Copyright owners
662,052
Reporting organizations
729,291

Specified domains

This figure is the total number of unique top-level domains (e.g., google.com) from which URLs are requested to be delisted.

Copyright owners

The total number of unique individuals or entities that have claimed an exclusive right to content specified in copyright delisting requests.

Reporting organizations

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.

Browse the data

Use the dropdown to view the six reporting organizations, specified domains, or copyright owners who have submitted or been cited in the most requests.

Link-Busters.com
2,555,966,358
MG Premium Ltd.
994,164,137
rivendell
978,453,700
comeso GmbH
837,468,759
Remove Your Media LLC
694,958,798
BPI (British Recorded Music Industry) Ltd
633,939,277

Explore the data

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.

search

Explore requests

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.

Request

We received a request from a reporter to remove 2 URLs from Google Search based on copyright infringement of pictures.

Outcome

We did not delist the 2 URLs from Google Search as the use of the images appeared to be a fair use as they were included in articles that criticised the reporter.

Request

We received a request from a reporter, claiming to represent a model to remove 184 URLs from Google Search based on alleged copyright in the images.

Outcome

We did not take action on the URLs as there were signals of a potentially abusive webform submission.

Request

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.

Outcome

We did not take action on the URL as there were signals of a potentially abusive webform submission.

Request

We received a request from an individual to remove 9 URLs from Google Search that constituted press reports about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Outcome

We did not take action on the 9 URLs as there were signals of a potentially abusive webform submission.

Request

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.

Outcome

We did not delist the URLs from Google Search.

Copyright process

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 removals database

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

Reasons we don’t delist

It 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

Copyright and access to information

The 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.

Download report data

Explore how copyright affects Google Search results.