Another Entity Thinks A Random Bundle Of URLs Is A Legitimate DMCA Takedown Request

from the please-delist-'*.com'-thx dept

Copyright as censorship is one thing. Copyright as blundering, drunken bull in the DMCA china shop is another. We've seen this before: sloppy algorithms generating DMCA notices targeting not only possibly infringing content, but also the rights holders' own websites, listings as IMDb, critics' reviews -- basically anything that might have the copyrighted content's name in the URL.

Now, there's this, uncovered by TorrentFreak: some thing calling itself "Copyright UNIVERSAL" (but not apparently related at all to Universal Pictures) has issued a string of colossal failures in DMCA notice form.

Over the course of a few days reporting organization Copyright UNIVERSAL asked Google to remove thousands of links from its search engine. In their listing we do indeed see some infringing URLs, but it’s the legal content that really stands out.

In fact, it is safe to say that no website is safe for the overzealous anti-piracy group.

Over the past week Copyright UNIVERSAL has asked Google to remove 4,224 URLs including various high profile sites.

TorrentFreak's rundown shows Copyright UNIVERSAL has "targeted" the MPAA's website, IMDb, various movie theaters' websites, Amazon, iTunes, Google Play, Verizon, Cox, the NBA, the NFL, the Verge… the list literally goes on and on.

At some point during the early part of CU's onslaught, Google itself declared the "rights holder" to be an imposter:

But it apparently withdrew that tag, either in resignation or because, despite itself, CU managed to occasionally hit its target. That being said, it's tough to tell what CU is attempting to protect. Many of its DMCA notices never declare what content it actually holds the rights to.

Instead, CU just gets down to business by listing every URL it can think of, covering such things as… Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima's Twitter account… or an actor's own Facebook page. Digging around in just a single bogus takedown request, you'll find a link to a Steam FAQ page, a listing of French Open match times at SBNation, a Netflix page, and an interview with Jodie Foster at an Australian news site.

Fortunately, Google has done little more than allow Copyright UNIVERSAL to repeatedly beclown itself. Its most recent requests seem to be a bit more targeted, but still fail to explain why an entity using the name "UNIVERSAL" is "protecting" content owned by rival movie studios.

And it's only marginally better at hitting its targets. This particular DMCA notice may only target 38 URLs, but that includes multiple web pages featuring nothing more than interviews with "Barbershop 3" cast members or trailers promoting the film.

Because rights holders want the severest of consequences for those who don't comply with DMCA requests, but refuse to apply the same standard to themselves or their DMCA takedown bots, this sort of abuse remains common. Until that end of the exchange is taken more seriously, there's nothing stopping DMCA takedown companies from solemnly swearing that every single bogus URL is correct to the best of their knowledge, even when the most cursory review shows otherwise.

Filed Under: copyright, dmca, takedowns
Companies: copyright universal