What to Do About DMCA Notifications in SEO Work?
Posted: Mon Dec 09, 2024 6:47 am
We are discussing an issue that can directly affect all your SEO work and that you need to deal with when it comes to copyrights: The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). In this article, I will try to provide information about what to pay attention to in SEO in case some or all of your site is affected by DMCA.
What is DMCA?
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), is a part of US copyright law and is concerned with the process of completely removing content from the internet.
Organizations that file the most copyright notifications: (Source: Google )
Does the DMCA Only Apply to the US?
No, DMCA is generally used around the world and search engines reflect them in search results to avoid running afoul of local laws in those countries.
Regardless of your site type, if there is a copyright violation and this is reported to DMCA, your pages may be removed from the index due to an image on your site. You can often see these situations on sites that do not publish legally. So, it does not matter whether it is a movie watching site or a normal news site. Therefore, you should be very careful about DMCA Takedown notices. Let's get back to the SEO part of the job without getting too bogged down in legal terms.
DMCA & Google Search Console
Google takes DMCA notices into consideration and may remove your site from search results. In such cases, an email like the one below will be sent to Search Console:
As you can see in the screenshot, the email says, “Google has been notified, according to the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), that some of the material found on your site allegedly infringes upon the copyrights of others” and continues by saying that actions will be taken to remove the URLs from Google.
You can also see the names of many sites from Twitter overseas chinese in worldwide data to other major sites on . Example results for Netflix:
You can also see the sites and details that are subject to copyright on detail pages such as . The reasons for copyright and the URLs provided as examples are clearly shown:
If the search query is relevant after the deleted pages, you may see a warning at the bottom of the SERP like this:
How Does a Site's Organic Performance Get Affected After a DMCA?
Once the DMCA notification is received by Search Console and reflected in the search results, the relevant pages of your site will be completely deleted from the index. Naturally, your performance will decrease as you will no longer receive traffic from those URLs that you received very good organic traffic and SEO visibility from. Search Console received a notification on June 28 and organic traffic had decreased:
Even if you examine the URL removed from the index with URL inspection, it will not show an error/warning that it is not in the index:
Will My Pages Removed from Search Results by DMCA Come Back?
Yes, it can come back. To do this, you need to file a counter-notification to state that you are not infringing on copyright. Also, if the algorithms have not changed and the process has been going on for a short time, you may be able to catch up with your old traffic.
The critical point here is that you receive a DMCA notice for an unjust cause. If the other party is right in the DMCA notice, there is not much you can do here.
Are DMCA Notices a Ranking Factor?
Yes, Google did mention in a 2012 blog post that it could use the number of copyright notices as a signal. The important thing to note here is that you don’t constantly engage in manipulative behavior. You should also watch out for repeated DMCA notices :
DMCA Counter Notification
If your site has been removed from the index due to DMCA notifications affecting your site, Google will issue you an infringement notification. It is definitely a good idea to talk to your lawyer about DMCA notifications. Click to access the DMCA Counter Notification Form .
Please fill out the requested information carefully and accurately in the form below:
If the content on the page was infringing on the date you received the notification, your counter notification will be legally invalid:
In the URL section, you must enter the URLs specified in the email & Search Console messages:
What is DMCA?
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), is a part of US copyright law and is concerned with the process of completely removing content from the internet.
Organizations that file the most copyright notifications: (Source: Google )
Does the DMCA Only Apply to the US?
No, DMCA is generally used around the world and search engines reflect them in search results to avoid running afoul of local laws in those countries.
Regardless of your site type, if there is a copyright violation and this is reported to DMCA, your pages may be removed from the index due to an image on your site. You can often see these situations on sites that do not publish legally. So, it does not matter whether it is a movie watching site or a normal news site. Therefore, you should be very careful about DMCA Takedown notices. Let's get back to the SEO part of the job without getting too bogged down in legal terms.
DMCA & Google Search Console
Google takes DMCA notices into consideration and may remove your site from search results. In such cases, an email like the one below will be sent to Search Console:
As you can see in the screenshot, the email says, “Google has been notified, according to the terms of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), that some of the material found on your site allegedly infringes upon the copyrights of others” and continues by saying that actions will be taken to remove the URLs from Google.
You can also see the names of many sites from Twitter overseas chinese in worldwide data to other major sites on . Example results for Netflix:
You can also see the sites and details that are subject to copyright on detail pages such as . The reasons for copyright and the URLs provided as examples are clearly shown:
If the search query is relevant after the deleted pages, you may see a warning at the bottom of the SERP like this:
How Does a Site's Organic Performance Get Affected After a DMCA?
Once the DMCA notification is received by Search Console and reflected in the search results, the relevant pages of your site will be completely deleted from the index. Naturally, your performance will decrease as you will no longer receive traffic from those URLs that you received very good organic traffic and SEO visibility from. Search Console received a notification on June 28 and organic traffic had decreased:
Even if you examine the URL removed from the index with URL inspection, it will not show an error/warning that it is not in the index:
Will My Pages Removed from Search Results by DMCA Come Back?
Yes, it can come back. To do this, you need to file a counter-notification to state that you are not infringing on copyright. Also, if the algorithms have not changed and the process has been going on for a short time, you may be able to catch up with your old traffic.
The critical point here is that you receive a DMCA notice for an unjust cause. If the other party is right in the DMCA notice, there is not much you can do here.
Are DMCA Notices a Ranking Factor?
Yes, Google did mention in a 2012 blog post that it could use the number of copyright notices as a signal. The important thing to note here is that you don’t constantly engage in manipulative behavior. You should also watch out for repeated DMCA notices :
DMCA Counter Notification
If your site has been removed from the index due to DMCA notifications affecting your site, Google will issue you an infringement notification. It is definitely a good idea to talk to your lawyer about DMCA notifications. Click to access the DMCA Counter Notification Form .
Please fill out the requested information carefully and accurately in the form below:
If the content on the page was infringing on the date you received the notification, your counter notification will be legally invalid:
In the URL section, you must enter the URLs specified in the email & Search Console messages: