Universal Music sues MySpace

The big music company, a unit of Vivendi SA, alleges that the News Corp.-owned social networking site violated copyright law by allowing its users to post millions of Universal songs and videos without permission. You might remember that MySpace and Universal had been negotiating towards a deal that would have News Corp. pay a licensing fee for Universal content. But according to the WSJ, Universal wanted News Corp. to pay restitution for content that previously appeared on MySpace, and News Corp. said forget about it. Suit was filed this afternoon in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles. MySpace is part of a News Corp. unit based in Beverly Hills.