Last week we reported that UMG filed a copyright claim and took down the MegaUpload song, despite having no ownership over the content whatsoever. Not only did they do it for the original video, they also aggressively went after any copies that popped up after the original was removed.

The video in question featured high profile artists such as Kanye West, Will.i.am, Jamie Foxx and more singing the praises of the legitimate uses of MegaUpload’s file-sharing service. Shortly after UMG’s aggressive (and persisent) move to block the distribution of the song, MegaUpload moved to take the matter to court, suing UMG and requesting an immediate restraining order.

It was curious, to say the least, that UMG was able to successfully take down content that it didn’t own. A leaked court filing regarding the matter was picked up by Ars Technica sheds some light on the matter, but what the court filing suggests is even more baffling.

According to the document, UMG, as per an agreement with Google, claims that it has the right to take down any video hosted on YouTube, regardless of who owns the content, and for any reason they want to come up with.

The court document reads:

“Your letter could be read to suggest that UMG’s rights to use the YouTube “Content Management System” with respect to certain user-posted videos are limited to instances in which UMG asserts a claim that a user-posted video contains material that infringes a UMG copyright. As you know, UMG’s rights in this regard are not limited to copyright infringement, as set forth more completely in the March 31, 2009 Video License Agreement for UGC Video Service Providers, including without limitation Paragraphs 1(b) and 1(g) thereof.”

Aside from Google and Universal, no one knows exactly what paragraphs 1(b) and 1(g) referenced in the letter actually say. Regardless, it does at least appear that UMG thinks it has the right down to take down any video it wants, regardless of ownership.

We’ll let you know if we hear more.

Source: Ars Technica

UMG claims it has the right to remove YouTube videos it doesn’t own is a post from: The Inquisitr

Meebo will begin offering ad-supported videos from UMG artists such as Kanye West, Ludacris, and The Killers on its site. The artists will use the platform to promote new and upcoming albums.

In the meantime, UMG will begin integrating Meebo’s chat rooms into the artist’s official Web sites. UMG has previously embedded Meebo Rooms for specific events like listening parties. This will mark the first time, though, the services will be intertwined in such a broad fashion.

This is just the latest in a string of UMG content-sharing partnerships. The label signed a deal with teen social networking site Kiwibox in October that brought thousands of its videos to the site in an ad-supported manner, with artists keeping part of the revenue.

As for Meebo, it has been around for just over three years. It claims 40 million users at its meebo.com chat site alone, not counting various partnerships and third-party implementations.

Meebo and Universal Music to Share Services is a post from: The Inquisitr

The deal will make thousands of UMG artist videos available for free on Kiwibox.com. The media will be ad-supported, with artists getting a share of the revenue. (The specific percentages are not being released.) Current UMG artists include Jay-Z, The Killers, Snow Patrol, and Kanye West.

Kiwibox, purchased by Magnitude Information Systems in 2007, combines interactive social features with both professionally written and user-generated content, all in a magazine-style layout. The site saw a major makeover in August, which included the debut of an expanded internal video section. The new service — fittingly set to be titled “Kiwibox Music Videos” — will launch before the end of the year and will be integrated with the existing content.

Will the offering draw users over from existing streaming services such as Imeem and the recently launched MySpace Music? Probably not. But for its own devoted base of teen and pre-teen users, the option is sure to add a nice layer of functionality to an already robust site — not to mention the additional avenue of exposure it’ll provide for the artists always vying to reach that very demographic.

Teen Social Network To Get Label-Supported Streaming is a post from: The Inquisitr