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First Media Challenge against MySpace

Popular social network MySpace is being sued by the world`s largest record company, Universal Music, in the media`s first legal challenge against the Murdoch owned site. The reason for the suit, according to Universal, is due to the continuous copyright infringement of the music and music videos of its artists, citing specifically the easy availability of material from rap artist Jay-Z`s and his yet unreleased album. Universal says MySpace "encourages, facilitates and participates in the unauthorized reproduction, adaptation, distribution and public performance."

MySpace has defended itself saying the suit was "meritless litigation," and adds it continuously removes copyrighted material. In a statement, MySpace says, "we provide users with tools to share their own work - we do not induce, encourage, or condone copyright violation in any way."

Google has indicated it has set aside more than $200m to deal with possible lawsuits and copyright settlements over the next 12 months arising from its acquisition of YouTube.