Just a few weeks after they announced a deal with the music recognition service Gracenote to remove unauthorized music from the site, MySpace are now doing the same thing for video. Just like YouTube, they say they're working on a tool for copyright holders that makes it easy to pull unauthorized clips from MySpace Video - copyright holders just flag the infringing videos, and the MySpace staff will remove them. They've also developed a system that prevents users from re-uploading videos which have already been pulled. The new system will be more efficient, they say, than the manual process of issuing take-down notices. They're currently testing it with content from FOX and MLB Advanced Media, with more copyright holders being added soon.
It seems that all the video sharing sites will eventually add some sort of automated system for dealing with copyright infringements, but an issue arises when the system is too good - some of the most compelling content on these sites is infringing. YouTube have found a good compromise: if copyright holders agree to leave the clips on the site, they'll offer a share of the ad revenue. Meanwhile, YouTube are on a rampage to sign as many content deals as possible, while dodging those inevitable lawsuits. And it just emerged last week that Google Video is being sued, although we don't know the details on that one.
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