Internet search services provider Google, Inc., US, has reportedly made progress on four copyright-protection initiatives it outlined in December 2010.
The company, which has faced severe criticism for years over copyright issues, has completed building tools that now allow it to act on valid complaints from copyright owners in 24 hours or less on average. The tools will allow Google to act upon complaints from copyright owners that their content is appearing without permission on Google sites, starting with Blogger and Web search.
The tools simplify the process of submitting these complaint notices, which cite the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) when requesting that their works be removed from websites.
According to Kent Walker, a Google Senior Vice President and General Counsel, the tools are now being successfully used by more than a dozen content industry partners. These partners together account for over 75 percent of all URLs submitted in DMCA takedowns for Web Search. In the near future, Google will make the tools more broadly available to copyright owners that have a track record of 'valid' takedown requests, the company has said.
Google has also strengthened its process for detecting web publishers that attempt to use the company's AdSense advertising programme to display ads on pages that contain copyright-infringing content.
Google is also taking steps to give more prominent placement on its search results to authorised preview content. Additionally, the company is increasing the amount of legitimate content available through its sites.
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