Universal Music sues MySpace for copyright infringement

16 Nov 2006

Summary

Universal Music is suing MySpace for allowing users to illegally share copyrighted music and music videos. Current law stipulates that companies which allow content to be posted onto their sites (known as hosting sites) must take down copyrighted content only when notified to do so by the copyright holder. MySpace contends that they comply with the law saying, "We provide users with tools to share their own work—we do not induce, encourage, or condone copyright violation in any way." Read the article.

Things to think about when reading this article

The ownership of text, music, and video content–and the ability to collect revenue from copyrighted material–has been hotly contested for decades. What makes the issue even more contentious on the Internet is the scope of impact where millions of users can access content from the moment it is posted.

Who gets the money? Since sites which host content (including not only MySpace but YouTube, MSN, and many others) are required to remove copyrighted content only after copyright owners notify them, they profit from the illegal distribution of content in a couple of ways.

• First, these sites dodge the expense of policing content on their sites. The law places the burden on copyright owners to constantly trawl to see if a site is allowing the illegal distribution of their content and then protest it. Given the speed of downloads, this can mean a significant loss of revenue to copyright owners as in-demand content may be disseminated to millions of consumers before the breach is rectified.
• Secondly, these hosting sites directly profit from the illegal distribution of copyrighted content because they make money on ads placed in their pages. The more pages viewed (for example pages that enable the illegal distribution of in-demand copyrighted content), the more ad revenue the hosting site receives.

Given these financial motives, it’s in the best interest of content hosting sites to turn a blind eye to the "reuse’ of copyrighted" content.

What about rights to your own content? Whether or not you care about the legal battle between two media giants, you should consider that your personal content–whether it’s a home video, your band’s music, your artwork, poetry, or just your thoughts–is a commodity. The hosting company isn’t a charity; it’s hosting your content to make money. It makes money by displaying ads to anyone who looks at your content. But who is looking after your ‘copyrights’? (Learn about copyrights.)

Before you post your content, consider what kind of uses of your content you’re OK with. Are you willing to let others claim your thoughts and creations as their own or use your material out of context for their own purposes? Currently, the only protection hosting sites use to prevent others from using (or abusing) your content is to restrict access to your site.

If you want the right to determine how your material is used, start demanding that content hosting sites give you the right to manage access and use of your own material (and thereby earn their right to make money from it). Until Web sites do this, you may want to refrain from posting material you’ve created or at least restrict who can access it.

To learn more about how to protect yourself when using these social networking sites, read Chapter 9, "Reduce Your Vulnerability When Blogging" in Look Both Ways: Help protect your family on the Internet.