This is not a case of witch-hunting - Google on the shutdown of Linda Ikeji's blog

While many were shocked by the sudden shutdown of Linda Ikeji's blog by Google, some are pointing accusing fingers at the man who threatened to see to it that her blog is deleted for alleged plagiarism.

Punch contacted Google’s Manager for Communications and Public Affairs, Anglo-Phone West Africa, Taiwo Kolade-Ogunlade, and he gave reasons why the blog was shut down

“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.

“That is why we have copyright guidance. I don’t know if Linda picked up any content and I don’t know what content is the bone of contention-neither have I looked into the complaints personally.

“But it is not a case of witch-hunting and has nothing to do with Linda Ikeji’s personality or anyone else because there is a process, and irrespective of who you are in the world, that process would apply to you,” Kolade-Ogunlade explained.

“Let’s respect other people’s rights and intellectual property. Making money off other people’s content without permission is wrong. Although the Internet is inanimate, it is the content on it that gives it life. These are the issues.

“Whenever owners of online contents come after you accusing you of using their content, it is because they have families to feed and businesses to sustain.

“People should also understand that copyrights does not only apply to text, but also extends to literary works, images and photographs, music files and MP3s, movies, movie trailers and videos as well as software,”