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Adsense restrictions on copyrighted materials

Abe Olandres Editor-in-chief January 18, 2007 · 1 min read

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From Jensense, several new changes in Adsense Policies, one of them specifically prohibiting display of Adsense ads on copyrighted materials:

Website publishers may not display Google ads on web pages with content protected by copyright law unless they have the necessary legal rights to display that content. Please see our DMCA policy for more information.

I can see a lot of sites or blogs which could be affected by this. Here are some I can think on top of my head:

Celebrity or showbiz blogs using videos captured from TV, cable or movies.
Photo blogs displaying pictures of celebrities, models and actors/actresses.
Lyrics sites or blogs.
Blogs or sites providing streaming songs or mp3 downloads of recording artists.
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.

Anyone can just report the site/blog for DMCA violation and your Adsense could be banned. If you are unsure, it would be good to seek advise from Adsense Support Team.

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Abe Olandres

Editor-in-chief

Abe is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of YugaTech with over 20 years of experience in the technology industry. He is one of the pioneers of blogging in the country and is considered by many as the Father of Tech Blogging in the Philippines.

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30 Comments

The Songnumbers Team · 17 years ago

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!)

jaren · 19 years ago

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?

PaulB · 19 years ago

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.

Andrew · 19 years ago

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

seav · 19 years ago

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.

Andrew · 19 years ago

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.

SELaplana · 19 years ago

Quote: How about blogs quoting other blogs? Does that qualify as â€œcopyrighted contentâ€?

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….

YouTuber · 19 years ago

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.

Kiven · 19 years ago

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

markku · 19 years ago

Lyrics sites or blogs.

Very likely infringing. In this case, youâ€™re actually republishing the WHOLE copyrighted content, likely without permission, so itâ€™s automatically infringing. There goes Markkuâ€™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.*

yodda · 19 years ago

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.

seav · 19 years ago

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.

rick · 19 years ago

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

Andrew · 19 years ago

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

AhmedF · 19 years ago

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 :(