Google is usually the most valuable takedown target, and the one creators skip. Deindexing does not delete anything from the site hosting your content, but it does cut the path most people take to find it: a fan searching your stage name plus "leaked" stops landing on the gallery.
Google also runs a separate, non-copyright path for intimate imagery. If the content is intimate and was published without your consent, that route can be faster and does not require you to assert copyright ownership.
Legal basis: DMCA §512 for copyright removal from search results; Google's own policy path for nonconsensual explicit imagery, which does not require copyright ownership.
Where to file
Google Legal Help removal troubleshooter
Start here for copyright. Select the product (Web Search), confirm you are the copyright owner or authorized agent, and complete the copyright removal request form.
Remove personal or explicit content from Search
The policy path for nonconsensual explicit imagery, doxxing, and personal information. Use this when the content is intimate and consent — not copyright — is the issue.
What you need
- The exact URL of each infringing page — the page showing the content, not a search results page or the site homepage
- A description of your original work and, ideally, the URL where you legitimately published it
- Your name and contact details (Google publishes redacted copies of copyright requests to the Lumen database)
- The good-faith and penalty-of-perjury statements the copyright form asks you to confirm
- For the explicit-imagery path: enough detail to identify yourself in the content instead of copyright proof
Typical response time
Copyright removals commonly process within a few days to about two weeks. The explicit-imagery path varies but is often faster because it does not require ownership verification.
What usually goes wrong
- Deindexing is not deletion. The file stays on the host until you file a separate notice there — do both.
- Submitting a homepage or search URL instead of the specific infringing page is the most common rejection reason.
- Image results are a separate surface from web results. If thumbnails still appear, list the image URLs explicitly.
- New mirrors get indexed constantly, so a single removal is a snapshot rather than a fix — this is the case for ongoing monitoring.
Need the notice itself?
Our free generators build a notice containing every element the law requires — nothing you type leaves your browser.
Frequently asked questions
Does removing a URL from Google delete the content?
No. Google only controls its own index. Deindexing means the page no longer appears in search results, which stops most discovery, but the file remains on the site hosting it until that host removes it. File with both.
Do I need a registered copyright to file with Google?
No. Copyright exists automatically in original work you create. Registration matters for suing for statutory damages, not for a removal request.
Will my name be public if I file a copyright request?
Google sends copies of copyright removal requests to the Lumen database, with some personal information redacted. The complaining party is generally identifiable. If that is a concern, an authorized agent can file on your behalf, or use the explicit-imagery path where copyright is not the basis.
What if Google rejects my request?
Read the stated reason — usually a missing element, an unclear ownership claim, or the wrong URL. Correct it and resubmit rather than filing an identical request again.
Go deeper
Other platform guides
Legal disclaimer
This guide is general information, not legal advice. Platform processes and response times change, so confirm the current route on the platform's own help pages before filing. A DMCA notice contains a statement made under penalty of perjury — file only for content you own or are authorized to act for. Consult an attorney for contested or complex situations.
Filing is the last step
Proprias scans daily across Google, image results, X, Reddit, forums, Instagram, TikTok and the open web, preserves hashes and screenshots before content moves, and — on Defend and VIP — files as your authorized agent so your legal name stays off the notice.
From $69/mo · Card required · Cancel before day 7