Google Removes Sci-Hub Domains from U.S. Search Results Due to Dated Court Order

Summary

Home > Anti-Piracy > Site Blocking > Google has removed dozens of new Sci-Hub domain names from its search results in the United States. Unlike typical DMCA takedowns, the removals were triggered by a dated court order that was not enforced for several years. This appears to be one of the first times Google has deindexed an entire pirate site in the U.S. based on a 'site blocking' style injunction. In 2017, American Chemical Society (ACS), a leading source of academic publications in the field of chemistry, won a lawsuit against Sci-Hub and its operator, Alexandra Elbakyan. The ‘Pirate Bay of Science’ had failed to appear at a Virginia federal court, resulting in an easy win for the publisher and a $4.8 million default judgment award for damages. A Broad Anti-Piracy Injunction (2018) More important, perhaps, was the broad permanent injunction that the Virginia federal court signed off on in 2017. This order effectively gave ACS free rein to take down existing and newly registered Sci-Hub domain names. The injunction also required all parties “in active concert or participation” with Sci-Hub to “cease facilitating access” to these domain names, including search engines, hosting providers, ISPs, and domain name registrars, the order clarified. From the 2018 injunction On paper, this injunction enabled ACS to request American ISPs and search engines to ‘block’ existing and future Sci-Hub domains. However, there was no sign that the publisher was doing so. Aside from a few suspended domains, Sci-Hub remained widely accessible. Whether ACS did not feel the need to enforce the order against search engines and other intermediaries or if these companies actively objected to the requested actions was unknown. And as time passed, the injunction became a distant memory, at least for a few years. Google Complies with Zombie Injunction? (2025) Earlier this week we spotted a unique request in the Lumen Database, where the 2018 injunction was cited. The notice in question asks Goo...