When Google released its new Copyright Transparency Report on takedown requests of its Search results, we got new insights into the massive number of complaints the search giant receives. We also saw that there are many requests that don't seem to meet the standard of a "good faith belief" of infringement. Google said in the report that it refuses to comply with requests that are obviously inaccurate or intentionally abusive, which accounts for about 3% of the total. While Google deserves to be commended for that example of good citizenship, they can't catch everything.

The following list shows the Top 10 takedowns that stood out as looking like misuse of the DMCA. It's by no means exhaustive, and compiled simply by looking through some of the listings that caught our eye. We've said before: in practice, the DMCA's notice-and-takedown procedures are ripe for abuse. These takedowns show how that abuse could happen.

Given the importance of Google search results in driving traffic, getting removed from its index can be profoundly negative for a website. Moreover, site owners may not always know they've been removed. Google is doing the right thing by monitoring for obvious cases of abuse, and these transparency reports should draw more attention to the reckless or malicious takedowns they are receiving.