MySpace Tool to Flag Copyrighted Video

In a move to appease copyright holders, MySpace will roll out a tool which will let authors and publishers quickly remove unauthorized content from the site.

Social networking and user-generated content sites like MySpace and YouTube may be the current darlings of the Internet industry, but publishers and copyright holders always happy to see their content uploaded to those sites—and potentially shared with millions of users—without their permission or any form of compensation. Some of those copyright holders are big companies with deep pockets and expensive lawyers, and they’ve been pressuring these “sharing” Web sites to do something about the situation—or they’ll get the courts involved.

To that end MySpace announced today it has developed a new tool which will let copyright holders quickly flag any user-posted video containing content they own and which they allege is unauthorized. Once flagged, MySpace says it will promptly remove the videos; to prevent users from re-uploading the same video once it’s been taken down, MySpace says it’s implemented a proprietary system to prevent flagged videos from re-appearing on the site.

“MySpace is firmly committed to protecting copyright holders’ rights,” said Chris DeWolfe, CEO and co-founder of MySpace, in a release. “This is another important step we’re taking to ensure that those who create and own content are able to protect it.”

The move follows MySpace’s deal with Gracenote, announced last month, to use GraceNote’s MusicID fingerprinting technology to verify that music users upload to MySpace doesn’t violate copyright.

The video flagging tool is currently being tested by MySpace parent company Fox as well as MLB Advanced Media, with expansion to other copyright holders expected soon.