NEW YORK (Reuters) - Universal Music Group, the world's largest music company, said on Friday it filed a lawsuit against popular social networking site MySpace for copyright infringement of thousands of its artists' works.

Universal, owned by French media giant Vivendi (VIV.PA: Quote, Profile, Research), filed the suit at the U.S. District Court Central District of California, Western Division.

The suit was filed just hours after MySpace, owned by News Corp. (NWSa.N: Quote, Profile, Research), said it launched an enhanced copyright protection tool to make it easier for content owners to remove unauthorized material.

In the suit, Universal claims MySpace had not only allowed users to upload videos illegally but had also taken part in the infringement by re-formatting the videos for users to play back and to send on to others.


The suit claims thousands of links to music from Universal's biggest artists, including Jay-Z and Gwen Stefani, are widely available on MySpace, even ahead of their release to music stores. It estimated maximum statutory damages for each copyrighted work at $150,000.

Music and TV companies have been in dispute with sites like MySpace and YouTube in the last year because of the ease with which their millions of users can upload and share songs and videos without having to pay.

In the case of YouTube, now owned by Google Inc. (GOOG.O: Quote, Profile, Research), Universal Music reached a licensing agreement to give the site and its users access to thousands of music videos.

Source [today.reuters.co.uk]