Universal slaps MySpace with copyright suit

Universal Music has filed suite against popular social networking site MySpace over allegations of copyright infringement.

The music label, which is owned by French conglomerate Vivendi alleges that News Corp.’s MySpace has allowed users to upload illegally obtained videos of thousands of artists’ works, including some content which has not even been released yet.

The move could have repercussions on the mobile version of MySpace and similar sites such as YouTube, which may also end up in the crosshairs.

Interestingly, back in February, Universal forged an agreement with MySpace to allow the site to offer access to thousands of music videos via on-demand streaming.

However, some reports suggest discussions over licensing fees had broken down.