Misuse Policy

People who intentionally misuse Google’s legal reporting webforms by repeatedly filing manifestly unfounded content removal notices or appeals will be flagged, and their requests may be closed without assessment. We issue these suspensions to protect our content moderation processes from abuse, which typically consists of repetitive or coordinated submissions, procedural deficiencies, lack of cooperation, and other bad faith, frivolous, spammy, or clearly baseless claims. Further examples of misuse are provided below.

Those who repeatedly misuse our legal reporting webforms will typically receive a written warning before we take action. If the misuse continues, the user may be suspended from reporting content, their requests will be closed without assessment for a period of six months, and an autoreply will be issued. Suspended users are also given an opportunity to appeal their suspensions. 

New requests for content removal may be submitted through our webforms after six months, however the user may be suspended again if the misuse continues after the suspension is lifted. We also reserve the right to suspend use of our legal reporting webforms indefinitely and without warning in cases of severe or deliberate abuse, such as fraudulent or bad faith submissions.

Examples of misuse:

There are many ways that submitters may attempt to misuse our webforms. Some examples of misuse include (but are not limited to):

• Clearly Unfounded or Unproven Notices: This occurs if you submit a request to remove content that unmistakably and obviously does not violate the law cited, or which clearly lacks enough information to prove a legal violation. For example, claiming copyright infringement for a generic phrase or factual data that cannot be copyrighted, or invoking laws that clearly do not apply to the situation.
• High Volume of Invalid Requests: We review signals of abusive patterns such as the number of invalid requests submitted by the same person or entity. Even if you also submit valid requests, you may still be suspended if your submissions demonstrate persistent abusive patterns of submitting large numbers of unfounded or invalid requests.

Note for Bulk Submitters: If you use automated tools or submit notices on behalf of multiple clients (for example, as a law firm or reputation agency), you are responsible for verifying the quality, truthfulness, and legal and factual basis of every notice. Submitting a high volume of unverified or unproven notices that result in multiple rejections may be flagged for abuse. If you believe we have incorrectly determined your submission patterns to be abusive, you may appeal your suspension and provide details explaining how you have not misused our reporting webforms (see “Appealing a suspension” below).

• Duplicative or Spammy Behavior: For example, repeatedly submitting or reopening essentially the same request without providing new legal evidence or court orders, or significantly exaggerating the urgency or severity of a request to bypass standard review queues.
• Lack of Sufficient Information or Cooperation: Repeatedly failing to provide necessary information (such as exact URLs, specific legal citations, proof of identity, or proof of authorization), especially after we ask you for that information, hinders our processing and may be flagged as misuse.
• Bad Faith, Frivolous, or Vexatious Intent: Submitting requests that are not grounded in legitimate legal concerns but are instead intended to disrupt or cause harm, such as requests that are fraudulent, abusive or designed to harass, annoy, or impersonate others.
• Circumventing Prior Suspensions or Warnings: Submitting requests from different aliases in an attempt to circumvent a prior suspension or warning.
• Ignoring Previous Warnings: Before a suspension occurs, we typically issue a warning to the email address on file for the submitter. If you receive a warning indicating that your recent notices were rejected and flagged as manifestly unfounded, adjust your reporting behavior. Continuing to submit similar requests without addressing the issues pointed out in the warning will likely result in suspension.
• Operating Without a Valid POA. If you are submitting a legal removal request on behalf of others that you represent, the webform will ask you to submit a Proof of Authorization (POA). Failure to truthfully disclose you are submitting the request on behalf of others, or failure to provide a valid POA, may be flagged for abuse.

Appealing a suspension

If your access to Google’s legal reporting webforms has been suspended due to a violation of this Misuse Policy, and you believe our decision was made in error, you may appeal by replying directly to the suspension notification by email.

In your appeal, please provide specific details to help us re-evaluate your case, including:

• A detailed explanation of why you believe your suspension from submitting further removal notices is incorrect and should be lifted. You can also add supporting evidence or context to help demonstrate why you believe that your prior notices were not manifestly unfounded, such as an explanation of why your requests were submitted in good faith, clarification on why multiple notices were necessary (for example, where you are an organization submitting notices on behalf of multiple other persons), or the specific information or legal justification for those notices;
• Details of the specific accounts that were suspended by Google under the Misuse Policy, including the names and domains associated with those accounts;
• Case ID(s) related to any warnings you received regarding the suspension and the final suspension notice(s);
• An email address that permits Google to contact you about the status of your appeal; and
• The following statement: "I confirm that the information I have provided is accurate to the best of my knowledge."

Once we receive your appeal, we will review the additional information provided and inform you of our decision. Appeals are typically processed within 10 business days, though some more complex cases may take longer. We will not take action on appeals that are determined to be made in bad faith. If your appeal is successful, you will be notified and your access to reporting tools will be reinstated.

Submitting a written copyright removal request

If you are a copyright owner and receive automatic replies because you have been suspended for misusing our legal reporting webforms, you may still submit a copyright removal request by sending a letter to the following address:

Google Legal
1600 Amphitheatre Parkway
Mountain View, CA 94043
United States

For users based in the European Economic Area, including the European Union, please direct your request to:

Google Ireland Limited
Gordon House, Barrow Street
Dublin 4
Ireland

In your letter please include the following information:

1. Identify precisely (a) the URL or other relevant location identifier of each allegedly infringing piece of content, (b) the exact text or content you claim is infringing, (c) the reason you believe the content is infringing, (d) identify and describe the IP that you own, such as the original copyrighted work, and (e) the specific copyright law(s) that you believe to be applicable to the best of your knowledge.
2. Provide an email or postal address that permits Google to contact you. 
3. Include the following statement: "I have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted materials described in this letter as allegedly infringing is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law."
4. Include the following statement: “I swear that I am the owner of the copyright that is allegedly infringed or am authorized to act on behalf of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.”
5. Sign the document with your full legal name.

Please note that a copy of each legal notice we receive may be sent to a third-party partner, such as Lumen, for publication and annotation. Please see our help center article for more information on the Lumen project, including the publication and redaction policies.

Severe or deliberate abuse

From time to time, people attempt to convince us to remove content by making false claims that they swear, under penalty of perjury, to be true and made in good faith (for example, by submitting fake court orders or other fabricated evidence).

We take false complaints very seriously, particularly where we identify a pattern of abuse. Making false or fraudulent claims is an abuse of Google’s content removal process and may even be illegal. We will not take action on requests that are made in bad faith, and we reserve the right to suspend use of our legal reporting webforms indefinitely and without warning in cases of severe or deliberate abuse.