Industry news & advice blog

The argument between the body representing UK record labels, BPI, and internet search giant Google has been long-running and this week made it onto BBC's Newsnight programme. The crux of the problem is all the links to illegal torrent sites which regularly appear in Google's search results, typically far above any links to legitimate services such as iTunes.

Whilst Google argue that they spend a lot of time removing illegal links and perhaps it isn't their place to judge, the BPI strongly believe it is the search engine's responsibility to remove these results. The argument is further fuelled by accusations that Google profits from pirate sites. Whatever the resolution to the problem, it is sad to hear of independent labels suffering as music piracy gets the better of them with search results to their new releases being buried by pages of illegitimate links. Get the lowdown on the dispute and the Newsnight programme via the links below...

Related Links

http://www.musicweek.com/story.asp?sectioncode=1&storycode=1050450&c=1

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18892655

http://www.out-law.com/en/articles/2012/july/music-industry-body-will-demand-removal-of-12-million-pirate-files-in-2012-says-report/

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Tags

google, bpi, british phonographic industry, music piracy, record labels, record companies, the pirate bay, torrent sites