IndustryGoogle Failing on Piracy, Claims RIAA, Hollywood Agent

Google Failing on Piracy, Claims RIAA, Hollywood Agent

The Recording Industry Association of America says Google's current process isn't working and urges the company to make some changes to their copyright infringement report system. In the past month, the RIAA has requested 52,715 URL takedowns.

Concept image representing software piracyThe Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is urging Google to make some changes to their copyright infringement report system.

In a blog post, the RIAA bemoans Google’s polices dealing with copyright infringement takedown requests. The group is asking for an increased limit to the amount of requests they can send in and an increase in the amount of links Google takes down each day.

The post comes following last week’s Google transparency report showing who requests takedowns each month.

“Clearly the current process is not working. Google is routinely directing people to unlawful sources of content,” said RIAA’s executive vice president of anti-piracy Brad Buckles.

“If Google truly doesn’t want its search results directing people to materials that violate copyright laws, more should be done to address this problem.”

One of the RIAA’s biggest complaints is the artifical limit on complaints a copyright holder can make. It accused Google of deliberately limiting the number of site takedown requests copyright holders can submit.

Google, meanwhile, says the artificial limit is a technical issue and not a purposeful act.

“We have never imposed any limit on the number of DMCA [Digital Millennium Copyright Act] notices that a copyright owner or reporting organization may send us, although we do have some technical safeguards in our trusted partner program as a safeguard against accidental flooding of the system,” said a Google spokesperson.

The RIAA’s complaints come following a Google transparency report last week that showed who and how many copyright complaints Google gets each month. Google reported that it received as many as 250,000 takedown requests each week. In the past month, the RIAA has requested 52,715 URL takedowns.

Google: Copyright Ownership is “Complicated”

Meanwhile, one Hollywood agent doesn’t understand why Google can keep child porn out of search results but not pirated movies, the Wall Street Journal reported.

Google says it’s much easier to identify and block child porn with its algorithms than figuring out who holds copyrights on video.

“You see it, you know it’s child porn,” said Susan Wojcicki, adding that copyright ownership “is a complicated business.” She also noted that Google can block offending sites in response to DMCA requests within a “matter of hours.”

This article was originally published on V3.

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