Networking site will license "audio fingerprinting," media database software.
Networking site will license "audio fingerprinting," media database software.
In an effort to stem the flow of copyrighted materials posted by users, social-networking site Myspace will incorporate audio fingerprinting technology from Gracenote on uploaded song files.
Social online services such as Myspace are facing under increased pressure from copyright holders to stop the flow of copyrigthed materials through their services. Universal Music two weeks ago sued a pair of media-sharing sites for copyright infringement.
California-based Gracenote specializes in categorizing and organizing digital music. The company will use its MusicID software and Global Media Database to check music files uploaded by Myspace users for copright violations.
"Myspace is staunchly committed to protecting artists' rights. This is another important step we're taking to ensure artists control the content they create," said Myspace chief executive and co-founder Chris DeWolfe.
MusicID analyzes the waveforms in songs and can identify songs or albums regardless of a file's source, format or tag information. The songs could then be cross-referenced with the Global Music Database, allowing Myspace to filter out copyrighted materials when it is uploaded by its users.
In September, Universal Music accused Myspace and video-sharing site YouTube of being "copyright infringers."
Media conglomerate Newscorp acquired Myspace in July 2005 for US$580m. Google bought Youtube earlier this month for US$1.65bn.