Google shuts down music blogs on Blogger and Blogspot without warning. Could it happen to your law blog?

Google’s free blog service, Blogger, made the headlines this week when it shut down and deleted the blog content on six popular music blogs without warning.

The Guardian’s Sean Michaels had a nice summary of what transpired in his story this past Thursday.

In what critics are calling “musicblogocide 2010”, Google has deleted at least six popular music blogs that it claims violated copyright law. These sites, hosted by Google’s Blogger and Blogspot services, received notices only after their sites – and years of archives – were wiped from the internet.

‘We’d like to inform you that we’ve received another complaint regarding your blog,’ begins the cheerful letter received by each of the owners of Pop Tarts, Masala, I Rock Cleveland, To Die By Your Side, It’s a Rap and Living Ears. All of these are music-blogs – sites that write about music and post MP3s of what they are discussing. ‘Upon review of your account, we’ve noted that your blog has repeatedly violated Blogger’s Terms of Service … [and] we’ve been forced to remove your blog. Thank you for your understanding.’

As Michael reports, “Jolly as Google may be, none of the bloggers who received these notices are ‘understanding’ in the least.” The reason being that bloggers such as Bill Lipold, the owner of one of the deleted blogs, I Rock Cleveland, had previously responded to Google support that despite complaints Google was getting, he was legally entitled to post the subject music.

‘I assure you that everything I’ve posted for, let’s say, the past two years, has either been provided by a promotional company, came directly from the record label, or came directly from the artist,’ Lipold wrote to Google.

Google’s response to the deleted blogs, via Rick Klau, lawyer and Blogger Product Manager, was that the blog owners did not file the appropriate response pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA).

When we receive multiple DMCA complaints about the same blog, and have no indication that the offending content is being used in an authorised manner, we will remove the blog. [If] this is the result of miscommunication by staff at the record label, or confusion over which MP3s are ‘official’ … it is imperative that you file a DMCA counter-claim so we know you have the right to the music in question.

But following that process is easier said than done per Michaels.

The trouble with filing a formal, legal DMCA counter-claim is, that most bloggers don’t know how. What’s more, many of Blogger’s DMCA notices allegedly omit the name of the offending song. Bloggers aren’t even sure what they are denying.

Why is this story relevant to lawyers and law firms? It demonstrates the risk of using a free blog service such as Google’s Blogger and Blogspot for your law blog.

I am not condoning any wrongful use of copyrighted material. But I would like to be in as much control of my blog’s destiny as possible. If a dispute arose, I’d like to be able to communicate with the blog host by email and phone as business person to business person. I’d like to know my blog’s being taken down was imminent. If my blog was taken down, I’d like to receive a copy of my blog’s content, not have all the content deleted.

Google’s customer service is not the best as demonstrated by customer service frustrations with the Google Nexus Phone. Here, apparently, blog owners felt compelled to respond to Google via Google’s online support forum message board. Knowing Rick Klau like I do and knowing he’s a good guy, I may have had the opportunity of engaging him to resolve the impending demise of blog if it were hosted at Google. But I doubt the average blogger could do so.

Don’t make the mistake in blowing off these music bloggers as some fringe small time players as compared to your law firm. Per the Guardian story:

Although such sites once operated on the internet’s fringes, almost exclusively posting songs without permission, many blogs are now wined, dined and even paid (via advertising) by record labels. After the success of blog-buzzy acts such as Arcade Fire, Lily Allen and Vampire Weekend, entire PR firms are dedicated to courting armchair DJs and amateur critics.

Perhaps the risks are minimal of such copyright or terms of service issues with Google on your law blog, but I am routinely asked by law firms about more minimal and less likely risks of blogging. Understandably we lawyers are risk adverse.

And don’t get me wrong, I’m not calling out Google as ‘Big Brother’ and evil here. I’m just asking if you want to go your managing partner and let them know that despite your best efforts to get a hold of someone at Google to resolve a third-party copyright dispute or other terms of service issue, your firm’s blog has been taken down and all content deleted.