Axehole

Universal Music Group is suing MySpace for copyright infringement. The lawsuit accuses MySpace of letting users upload videos illegally and taking part in the infringement by re-formatting the videos to be played back or sent to others.

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 Friday, MySpace unveiled an enhanced copyright protection tool to make it easier for content owners to remove unauthorized material.

MySpace later described Universal’s action as “meritless litigation,” saying in a statement its procedures for removing illegal downloads lived up to laws protecting digital rights.

“Businesses that seek to trade off on our content, and the hard work of our artists and songwriters, shouldn’t be free to do so without permission and without fairly compensating the content creators,” Universal Music said in a statement.