DMCA as a weapon: How to fight fraudulent takedown claims
A fraudulent DMCA notice can cost you search visibility. Here’s what to document, how to file a counter-notice, and when to escalate.
Topic: Copyright infringement
Publishers push Common Crawl to stop collecting content for AI training
Could AI lose a key source of training data? Major publishers want Common Crawl to stop collecting and sharing their content.
Google removes Search Engine Land article after false DMCA claim
Our report on Clickout Media's AI-driven gambling sites vanished from Google after a dubious copyright claim.
Google sues SerpApi over scraping and reselling Search data
Google accused SerpApi of 'circumventing security measures protecting others’ copyrighted content that appears in Google search results.'
Google and AI slop are ruining Thanksgiving for food bloggers
Food creators report steep traffic drops as Google’s AI rewrites recipes, buries trusted instructions, and gives users unsafe cooking tips.
Penske Media sues Google, says AI Overviews hurt revenue, traffic
Penske Media, owner of Rolling Stone, Billboard and Variety, says Google AI Overviews steal content, cut traffic and threaten media’s future.
Is using AI-generated content for SEO plagiarism?
Learn the process of AI content generation, nature of plagiarism and ethical considerations surrounding the use of AI in creative fields.
Microsoft AI CEO: Web content is ‘freeware’
Mustafa Suleyman believes almost all web content can be used for AI training unless explicitly restricted by the creator.
Google sued by publishers over alleged pirate textbook promotion
This raises serious concerns for advertisers about brand safety, fair competition and the integrity of ad placements.
Generative AI to create content: To use or not to use it?
Explore the ethical concerns, SEO considerations, and the role of human oversight in using AI for content generation.
Meta adds Brand Rights Protection to combat trademark, counterfeit, copyright infringement
The additional capabilities are designed to help brands prevent scams, improve trust, and report intellectual property infringement.
Google Search goes after fraudulent and manipulative DMCA takedown requests
The lawsuit alleges two men created over 65 Google accounts and submitted hundreds of thousands of fake DMCA takedown requests to remove competitors from the search results.
Meta launches new AI tool that creates music using text prompts
AudioCraft can produce high-quality, realistic music and sound effects – but there are some risks marketers need to consider first.
Daily Mail ‘set to sue’ Google over Bard copyright issues
Google is accused of illegally taking hundreds of thousands of the newspaper's articles to train its ChatGPT rival, Bard.
Google sued for allegedly stealing content, data to train AI products
The lawsuit will cause copyright concerns amongst marketers who are increasingly turning to AI products to generate media assets.
DMCA request removes Moz from Google Search index
This shouldn't happen, but it did - and that is scary.
Beware of fake DMCA link requests by AI-generated lawyers
If you received a DMCA legal request demanding a link from a lawyer, well, that might be a scam.
Google’s Pirate Update can cause 89% drop in search traffic for offending sites
A recent document Google sent to the U.S. Copyright Office shows just how much being hit by the Pirate Update can sting.
French antitrust decision sets the stage for Google to pay for news content in Europe
Google had sought to avoid paying copyright licensing fees by getting publishers to waive them in exchange for being included in search results.
Chapter 8: Toxins & search engine spam penalties
Anyone entering the realm of search engine optimization is likely to encounter some questionable (aka “black hat”) tactics, or Toxins, as we call them in our Periodic Table of SEO Factors. These are shortcuts, or tricks, that may have been sufficient to guarantee a high ranking back in the day when the engines’ methods were […]
Does the 9th Circuit’s decision in HiQ vs. LinkedIn open the floodgates to scraping?
The case may still be reheard or appealed but it appears to be a broad ruling in favor of "the open internet."
Google to add attribution to licensed lyrics providers
Google responds to the allegations that it scraped Genius lyrics without paying for that content.
European publishers accuse Google and Facebook of ‘plundering’ their content
Publishers and media companies have stepped up lobbying for a restrictive copyright law that would effectively create 'link taxes.'
SearchCap: Linking law, Google crawl change & map directories
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Keyword infringement: Edible Arrangements files $209M trademark suit against GoogleFeb 19, 2018 by Greg Sterling While use of trademarked keywords has been allowed by courts, this case may be more complicated […]
Google Chrome extensions bringing back ‘View Image’ & ‘Search by Image’ buttons in Google Image Search
Google killed off some much-loved features in image search. Now here are some Chrome extensions that bring back that functionality.
NY federal court decision threatens embedding and linking across the web
The judge's decision disregards existing law and if upheld could expose bloggers and publishers to potential copyright lawsuits.
Google Image Search removes View Image button and Search by Image feature
After making a deal with Getty Images, Google has revamped some of their image search features and user experience.
Google, Getty Images enter a multi-year global licensing partnership
The deal effectively ends Getty's European antitrust complaint against Google.
Bing updates its DMCA take-downs and copyright removal process
Bing Webmaster Tools gains a content removal section for viewing and appealing DMCA take-downs.
SearchCap: Google & Bing pirate agreement, local SEO & PPC tips
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google says no algorithm changes in new deal to demote pirated content in UK search resultsFeb 20, 2017 by Barry Schwartz Google and Microsoft Bing agree to reduce pirated content from […]
Google says no algorithm changes in new deal to demote pirated content in UK search results
Google and Microsoft Bing agree to reduce pirated content from their search results in an agreement named the Voluntary Code of Practice.
SearchCap: Google AdWords ad preview, Bing autocomplete, & illegal linking
Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Bing improves autocomplete suggestions for academic papers & movie titlesSep 9, 2016 by Amy Gesenhues Bing says autocomplete suggestions for movies will analyze a user’s natural language and intent to deliver […]
European court says linking to illegal content is copyright infringement
The facts of the present case were egregious but the law created by the court is bad for the internet.
Copyright bully Getty Images complains to EU that Google coerced it into image search
Company says high-res image search results have harmed traffic and revenues.
Mississippi attorney general’s “conspiracy to censor the internet” back on as appeals court rules against Google
Google had alleged the Motion Picture Association of America was using Mississippi attorney general's action as a tool of its private interests in content takedowns.
Columbia University researchers claim 28% of Google’s URL takedown requests are invalid
Among the questionable DMCA notices, 4.2% of the takedown requests targeted sites that failed to include any copyright-infringing content.
Google Agrees To Complicated Worldwide “Right To Be Forgotten” Censorship Plan
Google will ensure those within a country where a RTBF request was granted cannot find censored content, regardless of what Google edition they use.
Google Received More Than 65 Million URL Takedown Requests In The Past Month
The current number of weekly URL copyright removal requests is nearly double what it was this time last year.
JustWatch Claims Google’s Anti-Piracy Efforts Haven’t Hurt Streaming Sites
Google's Piracy Update has worked well removing torrent sites but not so well with illegal streaming sites, says a study.
Piracy Groups Want Google To Remove The Whole Site After Valid DMCA Filings
Google writes a letter to the United States Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator opposing whole-site removal over DMCA complaints.