Google Rejects DMCA Takedown Requests Against The Pirate Bay

• A DMCA takedown request that was filed to Google against The Pirate Bay has been rejected by the tech giant as the website does not promote copyright infringing content directly.
• The tech giant revealed that the website was removed from the search engine recently by mistake and that TPB would be restored to the search engine today.
• Google has received over 70 takedown requests via the DMCA against The Pirate Bay over the years.

Torrent websites are being targeted aggressively by various media industries, and one of the biggest targets is The Pirate Bay. Over 70 takedown requests have been filed to Google alone for the torrent website’s removal from the search index. 15 of the 70 requests were filed in 2018 alone citing multiple copyright-related reasons. However, most of the requests have been ignored by the search engine company.

Google consistently rejects all claims against TPB but chose to remove the website's homepage recently. However, the company clarified that it was a mistake on their part and the move was reverted. A Google spokesperson revealed today “Google received a (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) take-down request that erroneously listed thepiratebay.org, and as a result, this URL was accidentally removed from the Google search index. We are now correcting the removal, and you can expect to see thepiratebay.org back in Google search results this afternoon.”

While TPB’s homepage is not copyright infringing and Google refuses to take the site down from its index, other TPB links that include filenames of copyright infringing media are removed by the search engine. As The Pirate Bay does not promote piracy directly or mentions that copyright infringing content is available on the website, there is no legal reason for Google to take down the website.

Torrent websites have been facing harsh criticism as they make pirated content easily available, run illegal ads and also deploy cryptocurrency miners without notifying users. While the search engine company does not comply with most requests, other providers often comply to DMCA notices quite easily.

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