Reporting Copyright Infringement When Not All Content is Copied

1. 95

   eugbugposted 3 years ago

   If for example some of our content is copied on a page and there is other content on that page that the plagiarist created themselves genuinely, can we be legally liable if a web hosting service or online service provider (E.g. Google or Bing) deletes all the content or removes access. I've reported a site on occasion and the web hosting service took the whole site down.
   According to this page on the US Government copyright webpage, one of the steps is that:
   
   "Online service provider must act expeditiously to remove or disable access to the infringing material"
   
   
   https://www.copyright.gov/512/
   
   Normally I don't have an issue when I submit a takedown claim to Google, but occasionally they get back to me today because they can't find the allegedly infringing content or for some other reason. In response to the last submission they're saying:
   
   "We understand you're concerned about this content, but we can't remove content from third-party web pages. Google aggregates and organizes information published online. We don't control the third-party content found in the pages you've sent. Even if we remove this content from our search results, other users will still be able to find it through other search engines, social media, or web pages containing links to the content."
   
   I told them I know that, but this is the method I always use.

   replyreport
   1. 63

      OldRosesposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      It's not just Google.  More and more individual hosting companies are refusing to remove pages/websites which have stolen my content.  Even when an entire article has been literally copied and pasted onto their platforms, they claim they cannot find any evidence of a copyright violation.  It's very discouraging because more and more of my content is being stolen every day.

      replyreport
      1. 95

         eugbugposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         The reason that they can't find the content is possibly that notifications are initially processed by AI and this just can't pick it out for some reason.

         replyreport
         1. 63

            OldRosesposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            I understand that so I always send follow-up emails with the links and specific examples of the stolen content.  That's when they refuse my complaint or don't answer.  It's very discouraging.

            replyreport
2. 81

   Solarasposted 3 years ago

   Worse yet, I have had people copy my content and then intersperse it with their additions, so one sentence mine, two theirs, back to my next sentence, then one of theirs, and so on throughout the article.  I don't see how I can bring a complaint that will be successful in these instances. Therefore, I don't even bother.

   replyreport
   1. 95

      eugbugposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      I've just submitted a notification to Medium that was interlaced like that and they took the whole article down.

      replyreport
      1. 81

         Solarasposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Good for you and them!

         replyreport