Tumblr Gets Tough On Music, Implements 3 Strikes Like Policy

Tumblr users publish more than 110 million posts daily (that's not a typo), and naturally some of them include music. But in recent days,Tumblr has been punishing users who publish tracks without permission with both takedowns and outright bans.

Tumblr has been getting much tougher on users who post music without permission. In recent days, the blogging platform has not just taking down offending tracks, but suspending users in what appears to be a new three strikes policy.

“As outlined in previous emails, we implement a strict three-strike policy against repeat copyright infringement. Your blog has received three strikes in an 18 month period. Consequently, your account has been terminated. In addition, any new accounts you create will also be terminated,” Tumblr told one user.The tougher policy is likely motivated by pressure from the music industry trade group IFPI, according to TorrentFreak.

But it s the speed and veracity of the takedowns that have Tumblr users up in arms. “Since the IFPI sent takedowns for two songs, that was two strikes, and I had a previous strike months earlier due to being erroneously accused of a copyright violation by Harper-Collins (the photo in question was not theirs),” one user wrote. “In my case, the time period between getting the two strikes for music and my account being terminated was zero time; I found out something was wrong when I tried to log into my account.”

Many musicians use Tumblr as the platform for their official blogs, which has some worried could make them takedown targets even thought they are posting their own music.