Microsoft and BPI top list of Google copyright complainers

Google has reported it receives over 250,000 requests to take down URL's accused of copyright infringement each week.

The figures outlined in a recent Google report show more requests were made for URL removal last week than throughout 2009 combined.

Microsoft was called out as the biggest requester as of this month, with the British Phonographic Industry (BPI) listed as number two in most requests for May.

This month alone, Microsoft has requested a total of 543,378 URLs to be taken down over fears of copyright infringement. BPI came in a distance second with 162,601 URL requests.

"We believe that openness is crucial for the future of the internet. When something gets in the way of the free flow of information, we believe there should be transparency around what that block might be," said Google senior copyright counsel Fred von Lohmann in a blog post.

"So two years ago we launched the Transparency Report, showing when and what information is accessible on Google services around the world."

Google's Transparency Report has been around since 2010 but recently the company added new information on copyright requests to the report.

Before this month Google only reported on government requests to take down copyrighted information, but starting in May they started reporting on copyright holder's requests.

This isn't the first time Google's Transparency Report has made headlines. Late last year it was reported that the UK government's requests to remove URL's jumped 71 per cent over the course of 2011.