When a copy of your work shows up in Google results, you can ask Google to delist that page. Delisting and removal are different things, and knowing the difference saves you time. This guide covers Google's copyright request, what Google sends to the Lumen database, what happens after you file, and what to do when the copy is gone but the search result isn't.
Delisting is not deleting
Google controls its search results, not the sites in them. Google's own help page is plain about it: "Even if Google takes the website or picture off from our search result, the page is still there. That means people can still find it if they type the URL to the site, through social media sharing, or from other search engines."
So treat a Google request as one half of the job. The other half is a notice to the site, or to its host if the site won't answer. Google suggests three ways to find who to contact: a "Contact us" link or email on the site, a Whois lookup (search Google for "whois" followed by the site address), and the hosting company: "If you can't reach the website owner, try to talk to the company that hosts the site." Our guide on how to send a DMCA takedown notice covers that notice.
Step 1: Collect the exact page addresses
Google wants the address of each page that has the copy, not the site's front page. Copy it from your browser's address bar after you open the page. One page can live at several addresses. Google's own example shows the same post reachable at four different URLs, and on its refresh tool page Google warns that content can still appear under the addresses you didn't submit. List every version you see in the results.
If the same material appears in more than one Google product, Google asks you to "submit a separate notice for each relevant product."
Step 2: File the copyright request
Google says "The easiest way to file a copyright removal request is to use our legal troubleshooter, which helps ensure that your copyright removal request includes all the required information." You pick the Google product where the content appears (for search results, that's Web Search), then the reason for your report. When we opened Google's copyright form for Web Search, it asked us to sign in with a Google account or verify an email address before it would load.
In the form, Google asks you to "Be as specific as you can about what content on the page is violative, and why you are reporting it." The request is a DMCA notice, so everything in it must be true. Google's help page warns that you can be liable for damages if you materially misrepresent that something infringes.
After you submit, Google says "you will receive an email confirmation and a reference number," and that it may email you with questions. Keep the reference number with your records. Google also lists a postal address and the email dmca-agent@google.com for its DMCA agent, but it calls the web form the easiest route.
Step 3: Know what Google shares with Lumen
Google sends copies of many legal notices to Lumen, which Google describes as "an independent research project managed by the Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard Law School." Lumen publishes takedown requests for research and transparency.
For DMCA and other copyright requests, Google says it generally shares with Lumen:
- the type of request
- "The name of the person who made the request"
- "The rights holder's name"
- the reported URLs, the country and the date
- any documents you attach
- your explanation, as you wrote it in the form
- "A quote of the alleged infringing content"
Google says it "never shares with Lumen any information provided in the contact information fields, such as email address."
Two practical points follow. First, the names on your request, and anything you type in the explanation box, may end up in a public database, so keep personal details out of the explanation and don't attach private documents. Second, the delisted result can point to your notice. Google says that for Web Search it provides "a link to the notice as published by Lumen in place of the removed content." Google may also publish similar information in its Transparency Report.
Step 4: What happens after you file
Google describes its review in its Transparency Report: "When we receive a valid takedown notice, our teams carefully review it for completeness and check for other problems. If the notice is complete and we find no other issues, we delist the URL from Search results." When it acts, Google notifies the site's administrator through Google Search Console.
Google can also say no. It lists reasons it may decline to delist, including "not having enough information about why the URL is allegedly infringing; not finding the allegedly infringing content referenced in the request; and deducing fair use."
On timing, Google says only that it will "endeavor to respond to valid notices as soon as we can." There is no published deadline.
The site can push back. Google says "We evaluate all counter notifications and decide whether or not to reinstate the content. Google does not act as a mediator." If that happens, read what a counter-notice means for you.
When the copy is gone but Google still shows it
Sometimes the site removes the copy and Google's result lingers. Google says that when a site owner has removed information, it will "eventually be removed from Google Search as part of our regular updating process." To speed that up, use Google's Refresh Outdated Content tool. It is for pages or images that "no longer exist," or pages that have deleted important content, and it is meant for pages you don't own.
What to know before you use it:
- You must be signed in with a Google account.
- For an image, "you must file a separate request on every page where the image appears."
- A pending request "can take a few days."
- An approved request expires when "180 days has passed since the request was approved, or the URL no longer exists."
- It won't help if the copy is still live. Google says the tool "only updates Google's search result, it does not remove a page from the web."
Bing has its own form
Google and Bing are separate. Microsoft takes copyright reports for "algorithmic (non-paid) links appearing in Bing, and Bing's image and video search indexes" through its own online form. Microsoft's list of what a notice needs starts with "full name, mailing address, phone number and, if available, an email address," and it says "we may provide your notice of infringement to third parties, including the alleged infringer." So assume the poster can see the name you put on a Bing notice, and think about which name you use before you file.
When copyright isn't the right tool
If you don't own the copyright, Google has separate personal content policies that are not about copyright. Google says "As long as you're the subject of the content, you or a representative can start a request."
Intimate images shared without your consent, or fakes. Google has a separate request for removing personal intimate images of you from its search results, real or fake. It doesn't depend on who owns the copyright. If you agreed to the content, Google's policy covers it only if "the content isn't commercialized online or somewhere else," and for work you sell Google points you to its copyright request instead: "If you're concerned about copyright infringement of your work, you can request removal under DMCA." For these requests Google says "we do our best to find and remove duplicates." Google gives no timing for these requests, and they also affect only Google's results.
Google also takes requests to remove some private details, such as "Your address, phone number, or email," and doxxing content. These requests have the same limit as copyright ones: "Google can only remove things from Google Search results."
What nobody can promise
Nobody can promise every link comes down. Google reviews each request and can decline it. The site can send a counter-notice and Google may reinstate the result. The same copy can sit at other addresses, on other search engines, or be posted again. And a delisted page stays on the site until the site or its host takes it down.
Do it yourself for free
You can file every request on this page yourself. None of the Google or Microsoft pages we read mention a fee for filing a copyright request, a refresh request or a personal content request. A Google account is needed for the Refresh Outdated Content tool.
Where LeakVoid fits
Writing and sending a notice for every copy you find is the hard part. LeakVoid is being built for that part. You send it links to copies of your work and it drafts the notices. You review the new ones and sign the ones you want sent. LeakVoid sends them for you and shows whether each link is still up. If someone sends a counter-notice, LeakVoid pauses that item and forwards it to you. No notice goes out without your signature. LeakVoid doesn't give legal advice or promise removal.
LeakVoid is open. See how it works or Get started.
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More on the full process: what to do when your content is leaked.
Sources
All checked Sat 2026-10-24.
- 1. Google Search Help, "Contact a website owner": https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/9109
- 2. Google Legal Help, "Report Content for Legal Reasons": https://support.google.com/legal/answer/3110420
- 3. Google Legal Help, "Copyright Help Center": https://support.google.com/legal/topic/4558877
- 4. Google Legal Help, "Digital Millennium Copyright Act": https://support.google.com/legal/answer/1120734
- 5. Google Legal Help, "About Lumen": https://support.google.com/legal/answer/12158374
- 6. Google Legal Help, "Transparency on legal content removals": https://support.google.com/legal-help-center/answer/13888202
- 7. Google Transparency Report, "Content delistings due to copyright": https://transparencyreport.google.com/copyright/overview
- 8. Google Search Console Help, "Refresh Outdated Content tool": https://support.google.com/webmasters/answer/7041154
- 9. Google Search Help, "Request to have your personal content removed from Google Search": https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/3143948
- 10. Google Search Help, "Remove my private info from Google Search": https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/9673730
- 11. Microsoft Legal, "Infringement Notices: Copyright and Trademark": https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/legal/intellectualproperty/infringement
- 12. Google Search Help, Google's policy on removing intimate images shared without consent: https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/16305143
How this page is made
This guide's facts were checked against the sources listed above as of the "Last reviewed" date at the top of the page, and those sources may have changed since. This is a check against sources, not a legal review. It has no person byline. Our editorial policy explains how guides are made, sourced, checked and corrected. If you find a mistake, write to hello@leakvoid.com.