Film studio Warner Brothers has asked Google to remove its own website from search results, saying it violates copyright laws.

It also asked the search giant to remove links to legitimate movie streaming websites run by Amazon and Sky, as well as the film database IMDB.

The request was submitted on behalf of Warner Brothers by Vobile, a company that files hundreds of thousands of take down requests every month.

The self-censorship was first spotted by news blog Torrent Freak, which said Vobile had made some “glaring errors”.

In one request, Google was asked to remove links to the official websites for films such as Batman: The Dark Knight, The Matrix and The Lucky One.

Licensed online movie portals such as Amazon and Sky Cinema were also reported for copyright infringement.

“Warner is inadvertently trying to make it harder for the public to find links to legitimate content, which runs counter to its intentions,” said Ernesto Van der Sar, from Torrent Freak.

Source: BBC News