Google Finally Sheds More Light On Why Lindaikeji’s Blog Was Shut Down

News about the shutdown of Linda Ikeji’s blog by Google went viral yesterday in Nigeria following widespread allegations of copyright infringement and plagiarism levelled against her.

It all began a few days back when one Mr. Aye Dee, Editor-in-Chief of United States-based 15Past8 media group, reported Linda Ikeji to Google, accusing her of copyright infringement.

“Google just notified us that they are removing our copyrighted content from Linda Ikeji’s website. All the stories and images Linda Ikeji took from me without permission in the last few days have been removed from her site by Google. Someone has to say something. It costs money to get good work done. I spend time getting information from my sources, as well as analysing and verifying the information. All that costs money. I don’t mind donating my time for Nigeria’s sake, but for someone to take my labour and use it for personal profit, no way!”  Aye Dee had tweeted.

In a chat with the Punch, Google’s Manager for Communications and Public Affairs, Anglo-Phone West Africa, Taiwo Kolade-Ogunlade, explained why the blog was taken down and cleared the air on the misconceptions of ‘Witch-craft” and “Enemies of progress” belief.

He said Google takes the issue of copyright seriously, adding that the company belongs to a group of Internet firms that abides by the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and other applicable copyright laws.

“To respect the rights of copyright holders, Google clearly spells out how users of its products and services can get permission to use someone else’s intellectual property such as text, songs, images and footages. Google is no respecter of anybody when it came to the issues of copyright infringement, copyright is a big deal.

“Google as an organisation takes issues of copyright seriously and belongs to a group of digital companies that respect copyrights.
“Copyright is a big deal and this is why you can’t just go and pick up another person’s intellectual property or content and lay claim to its ownership