Several popular music blogs hosted on the Google blogger platform were recently deleted by Google for violation of copyright law and was precipitated by multiple DMCA complaints against these blogs.
Gaurdian posted about the blog removal notice which these popular music blogs got. They report that blogger sent them notices regarding violation of the terms of service, especially about their articles about music and posting of MP3 files, followed by deletion of these blogs. Some common affected blogs were Pop Tarts, Masala, I Rock Cleveland, It’s a Rap and Living Ears.
Rattled by the uproar, Google Blogger pointed out the Terms of Service and how they relate to their DMCA policy. Google clarified the issue of blog deletions and pointed to the update enforcement of the DMCA. Google highlighted that their current policy upon receiving a DMCA complaint is to notify the blogger, remove the article from public view by switching to draft status, and notifying a complaint to ChillingEffects.org. They also advise that when multiple DMCA complaints, they might remove the blog totally.
How can bloggers restore their blogs? Google suggests that if the blogger does have the legal right to link to the music, and their blog is deleted, they should file a DMCA counter-claim, and if it turns out correct, they could restore your blog.
Blogging Lessons Learnt – Keep reading the updated terms of service often and ensure you are not violating any terms of service. Whenever in doubt, it is best to fix the issue rather than get your blog deleted. Its also a good idea to use your own custom domain name, so that even if your blog is deleted some day (even the official Google blog was deleted by mistake!), you can at least retain your blog branding and domain name , and if you backed up your Blogger blog, you can restore it on a new blog platform hopefully.
Since people are busy reporting blogs and filing DMCA complaints, and one fine day Blogger stopped FTP publishing putting thousands of bloggers in the lurch; if you ask me – why not export Blogger to WordPress on your own hosting and domain name. Its not free, but worth every dollar spent.