CBS, Microsoft, and MySpace Unveil Copyright Guidelines

Web sites with user-generated content have an obligation to deploy "state-of-the-art" filtering technology to prevent the unauthorized posting of copyright material, a group of large broadcasting and Web companies said Thursday.

The companies, including Microsoft Corp., MySpace, CBS Corp. and video site Dailymotion, call on other social-networking and user-generated content sites to regularly use filtering technology to remove infringing content. Those sites should develop procedures for addressing copyright infringement claims, and they should upgrade the filtering technology regularly, the companies said.

Those principles were part of a set of guidelines the companies released Thursday. The guidelines were designed to help Web sites work with copyright owners on the "collective goal of bringing more content to more consumers through legitimate channels," the companies said.

"Once an industry initiative is formed, Google will be forced to accept the common model rather than use its own solution as a competitive differentiator," McQuivey said in a statement. "The pressure on Google to go along with this cooperative initiative will be intense, as the fate of existing lawsuits will likely hinge on Google's acceptance of the common solution."

Earlier this week, Google's YouTube launched a content identification system to increase copyright owners' control over how and when their content is posted on the site. YouTube Video Identification works when copyright owners upload content they want to protect so a "hash," or digital mark, can be created. The marks are supposed to prevent copyrighted material from being uploaded by others. YouTube will allow content owners to earn money from uploaded versions through ads.

YouTube Product Manager David King said in a blog that the system goes beyond the site's legal responsibilities. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act allows Internet service providers to avoid liability for copyright infringement by users if they respond quickly to notifications of copyright infringement.