Universal Sues MySpace – A Commentary

After talks broke down on Thursday Universal filed suit against MySpace claiming copyright infringement on a grand scale:

"It 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."

"Earlier on Friday, MySpace unveiled an enhanced copyright protection tool to make it easier for content owners to remove unauthorized material." (Reuters)

This is certainly the first of will be many similar lawsuits against MySpace, YouTube and others by various rights holders.  While protecting their "property" Universal may also be neutering the most effective viral promotional tools that they have.  MySpace is not  like the original Napster or some P2P’s whose primary purpose was to facilitate illegal file transfers. 

Wouldn’t Universal and the music industry have been better served by finding a way to work with MySpace instead of against it?

More: LA Times, MarketWatch, NY Times.  On MySpace’s new plan to fight infringement: (InfoWeek)