Google Deletes Music Blogs
It was reported by many yesterday that Google has deleted six of the most popular Blogger-based music blogs along with their entire archives which cover years of posting. This is part of Google’s effort to combat online music piracy. The move comes in response to Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) take-down notices.
According to The Guardian, the deletions were performed without ample notice. The targeted bloggers are insisting that they did not host any owned content without permission.
The sites shut down were using Google’s () Blogger () service; they included I Rock Cleveland, It’s a Rap, Living Ears, To Die By Your Side, Masala and Pop Tarts. Each was dedicated to introducing music fans to new songs and genres they might not otherwise experience, usually from obscure and independent artists.
Although MP3 downloads were often included in these blog posts, and some have recieved DMCA notices before, the bloggers claim that nothing they’ve uploaded recently has violated copyright laws. For example, I Rock Cleveland owner Bill Lipold claims that all the MP3s served up on his blog in the past two years were either publicly released promotional tracks or provided by the labels or artists.
As pointed out on Mashable, Google’s actions have spurred a quiet revolution among social net-workers who have started using the hashtag #musicblogocide2010 on Twitter () in tweets showing their disapproval of Google’s actions.
Google’s response can be found on their Blogger Buzz Blog. But here it is in its entirety for our readers along with today’supdates to the responses they have received and their recent actions:
A quick note about music blog removals
Earlier today, word spread about some popular music blogs that were recently removed from Blogger. While we make it a policy to not publicly discuss individual users or their accounts, we wanted to clarify a few things about how and when Blogger enforces its Terms of Service as they relate to our DMCA policy.
Last summer, we updated our enforcement of the DMCA. Our current policy is that when we receive a DMCA complaint, we:
- Notify the blogger about the complaint by e-mail and on the Blogger dashboard.
- Reset the offending post to ‘draft’ status, allowing the blogger to remove the offending content.
- Send a copy of the complaint to ChillingEffects.org.
When we receive multiple DMCA complaints about the same blog, and have no indication that the offending content is being used in an authorized manner, we will remove the blog.
Inevitably, we occasionally receive DMCA complaints even though the blogger does have the legal right to link to the music in question. Whether this is the result of miscommunication by staff at the record label, or confusion over which MP3s are “official,” it happens. If this happens to you, it is imperative that you file a DMCA counter-claim so we know you have the right to the music in question. Otherwise, if we receive multiple DMCA complaints for your blog, this could very well constitute repeat offenses, compelling us to take action.
Update: Should have linked directly to the instructions for filing a counter-notification.
Update 2/11/10: We looked into this issue further and identified one case where a blogger did not receive notification of any DMCA complaints before their blog was removed. We’re sorry about this.
We’ve contacted the blog owner and restored their blog, effective immediately, and we fixed the bug that caused the termination without prior notification. We’re also looking into additional preventative protections. We know the DMCA process can be difficult to navigate, and we’re working on ways to make this process as smooth as possible.
