‘Bug causes takedown requests of IMDb URLs by enforcement company’

A company that enforces corporate copyrights and detects infringements has allegedly been sending takedown requests of IMDb URLs to Google for weeks. That may be due to a bug. However, because movie database IMDb is whitelisted, Google does not remove entries.

The erroneous requests were spotted by TorrentFreak, which writes that they come from the British company Entura International. That acts on behalf of, among others, Columbia Pictures and Sony Pictures Television. The phenomenon that TorrentFreak describes means that the company requests Google to remove certain search results. In addition, it often mentions the IMDb URL of a movie to indicate which title it is. However, in the erroneous requests, that url isn’t listed under “original urls,” but under “allegedly infringing urls,” essentially asking the company to remove those IMDb urls from original works.

Google’s site shows that the company is indeed making many requests related to the popular movie database. There are also examples of the erroneous requests that TorrentFreak describes. The site believes there is a bug in the automated search for infringing material. However, Entura has not responded to requests from the site. The requests don’t seem to be doing any harm right now, as Google doesn’t honor IMDb URL removal requests. The site is whitelisted by Google, according to TorrentFreak. However, such a mistake could have more consequences for a smaller or less well-known party.

One of the wrong messages