Comments on: Adsense restrictions on copyrighted materials

By: The Songnumbers Team

The Songnumbers Team — Tue, 31 Mar 2009 17:38:47 +0000

Thanks for pushing out more ad-supported music information to the World!
Sincerely,
The Songnumbers Team
(PS, we just launched BETA 2 of our site!)

By: jaren

jaren — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 08:47:37 +0000

thanks for the info… whew now it’s time work out my sites and try to remove adsense for the celeb sites… and how about sites with original content and just put videos for reference?

By: PaulB

PaulB — Wed, 24 Jan 2007 11:49:46 +0000

Hasn’t that been part of the Adsense Policies eversince? I remember sending a message to AdSense support about that when I applied a little over a year ago. I remember because I saw this popular site that posted a lot of copyrighted videos and still had adsense ads on the page when I cleary remember reading that it would be against AdSense policies even back then. I wanted to get a clearer picture of what kind of site they considered to be in violation of copyright laws. But they just gave me this really vague answer. But I think it’s also a question of enforcement. Maybe google will continue to tolerate these sites unless there are any specific parties that would be adamant about taking action against sites that violate copyright laws. I don’t think that google will devote any resources to actually actively look for sites like these to be banned from the adsense program.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Sat, 20 Jan 2007 08:05:00 +0000

Yeah, didn’t I say they’re being tolerated?

By: seav

seav — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 18:06:53 +0000

Andrew, many music companies do tolerate lyrics sites because they help expose people to their music (which hopefully leads to sales) and they do not significantly hurt the bottom line (the potential gain to be made by going after lyrics sites does not offset the cost) but some companies are known to go after lyrics (and sheet music) sites, especially those that make money off them (e.g. selling books of lyrics or sheet music) and maybe even ad-supported lyrics sites. Do a Google search on “lyrics sites copyright infringement” for more information.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 13:13:08 +0000

Hmm. Well, to enlighten you on what a copyright is, it’s a legal right an owner, creator, writer or composer has on how his/her work is distributed. The reason I asked if quoting blogs falls under Adsense’s policy is because not every blogger can keep watch on how his content is being treated by other bloggers. That’s why some of us use Creative Commons for that purpose. But that doesn’t solve the problem. As for publishing lyrics, that is a copyright violation right there. But music companies tolerate it as far as I know, since they’re just lyrics and not mp3′s.

By: SELaplana

SELaplana — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 08:59:34 +0000

Quote: How about blogs quoting other blogs? Does that qualify as “copyrighted content”?

It is normal to quote part of the blogpost just like quoting part of the book’s content when writing articles.

- On Lyrics:

I don’t think there’s problem in republishing the songs’ lyrics….

By: YouTuber

YouTuber — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 06:15:15 +0000

I think starting today, bloggers should be serious in considering copyrighted materials not to post on their blogs. May also consider assessing their previous posts which may affect the whole site.

By: Kiven

Kiven — Fri, 19 Jan 2007 00:12:22 +0000

Got this in the mail today,
——————————–
Hello,

Thanks for writing in. To clarify, our program policies state that
publishers are not permitted to bring excessive attention to ad units.
Upon review of your site, our specialists noticed that small icons have
been placed near your ad unit, which may draw attention to the ads that
appear.

We ask that you please remove these images to comply with our program
policy. We appreciate your cooperation.

Sincerely,

The Google AdSense Team
——————————

Beautifier is a no-no? emailed them back as this contradicts what is stated under program policies in the adsense blog. lol

kung ayaw e di byebye google, lol

By: markku

markku — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 18:50:43 +0000

Lyrics sites or blogs.

Very likely infringing. In this case, you’re actually republishing the WHOLE copyrighted content, likely without permission, so it’s automatically infringing. There goes Markku’s lyric blog.

I hope not, though I’m not really sure about my legal position. I’d rather focus on local artists and hope things turn out okay. *Prays hard.*

By: yodda

yodda — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 13:44:33 +0000

before other adsense publishers do as you tell by reporting people, i suggest you dont. why? if you earn enemies in the blogging world, don’t feel secured that you will not suffer the same fate as there are ways to make your account violate TOS too without doing anything.

By: seav

seav — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 13:19:29 +0000

You’re forgetting there’s fair use. That’s a “legal right.” But of course, fair use is not a cut-and-dry thing and courts are the final arbiter for such.

But here are some comments on your examples.

> Celebrity or showbiz blogs using videos captured from TV, cable or movies.

Probably infringing. But if you’re commenting on the video, it’s probably ok (as long as ONLY relevant snippets of the video is used) since there’s editorial fair use.

> Photo blogs displaying pictures of celebrities, models and actors/actresses.

It depends. Some pictures can be used to illustrate articles that talk about the celebrity especially if the pictures are meant for media distribution (e.g., publicity photos). But collections of pictures is very likely infringing as are misappropriation of pictures.

> Lyrics sites or blogs.

Very likely infringing. In this case, you’re actually republishing the WHOLE copyrighted content, likely without permission, so it’s automatically infringing. There goes Markku’s lyric blog.

> Blogs or sites providing streaming songs or mp3 downloads of recording artists.

Infringing. If only very short snippets of the songs are used, it MIGHT be fair use, especially if you’re commenting on the song. But I think the recording companies will likely argue this point in court.

> Blog aggregators or portal. Unless you have explicit permission from bloggers to aggregate their content, they could report you for DMCA and asked to have your account voided.

If there’s no permission, it’s infringing. Period. But quoting RELEVANT short passages from others’ blog entries is fair use.

By: rick

rick — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 11:11:02 +0000

only the copyright owner can complain to google not just anyone.

By: Andrew

Andrew — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 09:32:07 +0000

How about blogs quoting other blogs? Does that qualify as “copyrighted content”?

By: AhmedF

AhmedF — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 05:10:33 +0000

Good. If someone else made the work, why the hell should you (in a generic sense) be making money off of it?

At the same time, I also agree the RIAA, MPAA, and other such cartels/monopolies are just bloodsucking cartels. If people actually boycotted CDs etc for even 3 months it would send shockwaves. Alas people are too busy being sheep