Themer pulled from Google Play due to Apple copyright claim [Update: it's back]

Update: and it’s back: Google has reinstated Themer on the Play Store.

Popular Android customization app Themer is no more — at least for the moment. The app was officially pulled down on February 2nd due to a copyright complaint from Apple regarding one of the 200+ themes available for the app: Seven.

Now to be fair, Seven really did look a lot like iOS, but it was the theme’s icons that Apple says infringes on their copyright. As soon as they were made aware of the issue, the Themer team went to work and removed the infringing theme, in hopes that this would lead to a quick return to the Play store.

A week after first being pulled, Themer has still yet to make a triumphant return to the Play store. This isn’t the first time that a developer has run into frustration regarding the way Google handles pulled apps, and it likely won’t be the last.

Of course, the process for Google probably isn’t as simple as just flipping a switch and making the app live again. For one thing, Google will need to verify that the changes were made and that Apple has no further concerns. The real problem, however, is that Themer’s team has apparently reached out several teams to Google to try and figure out what is taking so long, without any form of response back.

For those interested, you can read Google’s original letter to Themer below:

This is a notification that your application, Themer Beta, with package ID com.mycolorscreen.themer, has been removed from the Google Play Store.REASON FOR REMOVAL: Alleged copyright infringement (according to the terms of the Digital Millenium Copyright Act).

All violations are tracked. Serious or repeated violations of any nature will result in the termination of your developer account, and investigation and possible termination of related Google accounts. If your account is terminated, payments will cease and Google may recover the proceeds of any past sales and the cost of any associated fees (such as chargebacks and payment transaction fees) from you. Please review the Developer Distribution Agreement and Content Policy to ensure that your applications are compliant with our policies.

The DMCA is a United States copyright law that provides guidelines for online service provider liability in case of copyright infringement. Click here for more information about the DMCA, and see http://www.google.com/dmca.html for the process that Google requires in order to make a DMCA complaint.

Google may reinstate your application into the Google Play Store upon receipt of a counter notification pursuant to sections 512(g)(2) and (3) of the DMCA. Click here for more information about the requirements of a counter notification and a link to a sample counter notification. If you have legal questions about this notification, you should retain your own legal counsel.Please note that we have included a text copy of the Infringement Notice we received for your reference.

The Google Play Team

In the long-run, we have no doubt that the app will return, now it’s just a matter of when. What do you think, is it reasonable for an app developer to have to wait a week or more after addressing an issue before an app is returned to the Play Store?