British record industry tells Google to stop having links to unauthorised music

The BPI – the body representing the UK record industry – has written a letter to Google requiring them to remove links to web sites that contain unauthorised music. Although Google initially has a legal defence for the links, once it is made aware of them it is then required to remove them. The BPI has issued the notice to the search engine giant’s Californian base and it is subject to the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Having tried action against peer-to-peer file-sharing users and the web sites that facilitate the illegal uploads and downloads, the letter to a search engine represents an alternative front in its longstanding battle against the unlawful sharing of its members’ copyright material.