WebProNews

MySpace has launched a new copyright protection tool in an effort to combat infringing video content. The tool called "Take Down Stay Down" prevents users from re-posting videos that have been previously removed at the request of copyright owners.

"We have created this new feature to solve a problem that has long frustrated copyright holders and presented technical challenges to service providers - how to prevent copyrighted content from being re-posted by the same or a different user after it has been taken down by the copyright owner," said Michael Angus, EVP and General Counsel for Fox Interactive Media.

Angus added that MySpace is the first Web site to introduce a more effective tool to hinder copyright infringement. He called the Take Down Stay Down tool "ground-breaking and unprecedented benefit for copyright owners that re-enforces MySpace's position as the leader in copyright protection on the Internet."

After a content owner tells MySpace that infringing content has been posted on MySpace Videos the content is removed. The Take Down Stay Down tool creates a digital fingerprint of the video content and adds it to a copyright filter. If a user attempts to upload the same content that has been removed, the filter will recognize the digital fingerprint and block the content from being uploaded.

MySpace's other copyright protection tools include audio filtering which screens for unauthorized music uploads. Video filtering that block uploads of copyrighted video and a Content Take Down Tool that allows copyright owners to request the removal of infringing content.