MySpace Gets Tough on Copyrighted Music

News Corp., the parent company of MySpace, said Monday that it would be employing technology aimed at keeping copyrighted material off its pages. Additionally, the site would crack down on violators of the policy, kicking them off the popular social networking site.

Technology from Gracenote would scan music uploaded to the site's profile pages and then compare it to the privately held company's database. If it detects the file does not match a filing with the company, it would be blocked.

If a user continues to attempt to upload illicit files, it would result in his or her account being deleted. In addition to these moves, MySpace would also remove copyrighted material when requested by the labels and other content owners.

"MySpace is staunchly committed to protecting artists' rights - whether those artists are on major labels or are independent acts," said Chris DeWolfe, CEO and co-founder of MySpace. "This is another important step we're taking to ensure artists control the content they create."

Gracenote says that its technology, known as MusicID, is used in several different applications, including content filtering, broadcast monitoring, mobile music recognition, music file recognition and rights clearance.