What the Trusted Copyright Removal Program is
A high-volume route for DMCA removal notices, separate from the public webform. The programme guidelines require a record of "good, clear and accurate" notices through the standard form and a justified need for volume. Acceptance is at Google's discretion, limited to "excellent track records for accuracy".
Google's November 2018 report How Google Fights Piracy says the TCRP for Search is built for copyright owners or their agents submitting thousands of webpages a day, with "more than 178 TCRP partners, who together submit the vast majority of notices" as of 2017. We found no newer count from Google.
What members get, compared with the public webform
| Public webform | TCRP | |
|---|---|---|
| Who can use it | Anyone | Approved applicants only |
| How URLs go in | Typed into the form | Bulk text-file upload (up to 1 MB), plus the form |
| Starting quota | — | Up to 30 notices and 5,000 URLs a day; a file can hold 100 groups of 1,000 URLs |
| CAPTCHA | Yes | None |
| Tracking | No submission dashboard | Dashboard showing the status of each URL |
| Google's stated speed | About 6 hours on average across all Search webform requests | An aim of 24 hours on average, with no guarantee |
| Legal standard | DMCA notice requirements | The same, plus Google's exclusions below |
Sources: TCRP guidelines and FAQ; the 6-hour figure is from the Transparency Report FAQ. The two speeds measure different things, so don't compare them. Google says it doesn't "prioritize specific partners over others".
What the programme excludes
TCRP is for clear cases. The guidelines say Google has no obligation to process TCRP notices about:
- lawful, non-infringing content, including public-domain works
- copied news articles
- circumvention, such as activation codes, mod chips or key generators
- anything raising difficult questions, such as possible fair use: those belong in the standard webform
Submissions must be complete, accurate and not misleading. Members who "repeatedly submit takedown requests through the TCRP that are inappropriate may be terminated from the Program." A separate, narrower TCRP for Google Compute Engine live streams has nothing to do with Search delisting.
Who is in it
There's no public member list, and Transparency Report requests aren't labelled by channel. Each shows the reporting organisation (sender) and copyright owner (whose rights it asserts); reporting organisations "may act on behalf of copyright owners." The difference.
So you can't confirm a request came through TCRP, only see the pattern it was built for: a vendor filing for many rights holders, week after week, hundreds or thousands of URLs at a time. If that's most of what targets your domain, it's almost certainly bulk tooling.
What it means if you run a website
- Most requests come from vendors, not owners. Often a service paid to report URLs at scale; the owner may never have seen your page.
- Bulk lists catch bystanders: search pages, category pages, legitimate coverage. Hence TCRP's accuracy requirement and termination clause.
- "Trusted" doesn't make a request right. It describes the sender, not your URL. Same legal requirements, Google still reviews, same counter-notice rights.
- Volume affects more than single URLs. Google's 2018 report says it uses the number of valid removal notices for a site as one ranking signal. Does a copyright removal affect SEO?
- Requests can name pages Google never indexed. Google processes notices for any URL, hence the common "not in index" removal status.
How to read a request from a high-volume reporting organisation
Then respond. For a clear mistake, a short factual email to the reporting organisation is often fastest. Otherwise consider a counter-notice, and if it looks deliberate, document the pattern. A DMCA check shows who files against your domain; the dashboard tracks repeat filers. How Google copyright removal works.
FAQs
What is Google's Trusted Copyright Removal Program?
A bulk channel for DMCA removal notices to Google Search, with file uploads, no CAPTCHA and a per-URL status dashboard. It's open only to submitters Google accepts for an accurate track record and a need for high volume.
How do you join the TCRP?
Apply through Google's DMCA registration page. Google expects a history of good, clear and accurate notices through the standard webform, and acceptance is at its discretion.
Is there a public list of TCRP members?
No. Google's 2018 piracy report said there were more than 178 partners as of 2017. The Transparency Report shows each request's reporting organisation and copyright owner, not the channel it came through.
Are TCRP requests treated differently from other requests?
They're processed faster in bulk, but the legal requirements and counter-notice route are the same. Google says it doesn't prioritise specific partners and can drop members who repeatedly submit inappropriate requests.
Can I get a TCRP member to withdraw a request against my site?
You can ask: contact the reporting organisation with the exact URL and why it was named in error. If that fails, the formal route is a counter-notice.
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