Universal Music Group last week filed a lawsuit against MySpace [ tickets ], claiming that the social-networking behemoth has enabled users to illegally share and distribute copyrighted music by UMG artists.

In its lawsuit, UMG claims it is entitled to damages and MySpace's profits "in amounts to be proven at trial, which are not currently ascertainable," or, alternatively, is entitled to $150,000 for each work infringed, according to the suit, which was filed Friday (11/17) in US District Court in California.

MySpace parent company News Corporation, the media conglomerate owned by Rupert Murdoch, is named as a defendant in the suit, as well.

In its filing, UMG included a list of works it alleges were available illegally via MySpace.com, including songs and music videos from U2, 3 Doors Down, 50 Cent, Beastie Boys, Mary J. Blige, Godsmack, Avril Lavigne, Ciara, George Strait, Prince, Mariah Carey, Hinder and Kanye West.

"The foundation of MySpace is its so-called 'user-generated content,'" reads an excerpt from the lawsuit. "However, much of that content is not 'user-generated' at all. Rather, it is the 'user-stolen' intellectual property of others, and MySpace is a willing partner in that theft.

"No intellectual property is safe in the MySpace world of infringement," the suit continues, "not [UMG's] videos, ... songs, not even songs from the unreleased album "Kingdom Come" by the superstar artist Jay-Z, which are currently widely available for streaming and downloading on MySpace despite the fact that the album is not yet even available for purchase."

In a response issued Friday (11/17), MySpace denied any wrongdoing.

"MySpace provides an extraordinary promotion platform for artists--from major labels to independent acts--while respecting their copyrights," the company's statement read. "We have been keeping UMG closely apprised of our industry-leading efforts to protect creators' rights, and it's unfortunate they decided to file this unnecessary and meritless litigation. We provide users with tools to share their own work--we do not induce, encourage, or condone copyright violation in any way.

"We are in full compliance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and have no doubt we will prevail in court," the statement continued. "Moreover, we proactively take steps to filter unauthorized music sound recordings and have implemented audio fingerprinting technology. We will continue working to be the gold standard in protecting creators' rights as well as the world's leading lifestyle portal."

Hours before news of the lawsuit surfaced, MySpace unveiled a new copyright protection tool that it said would make it easier for copyright-holders to have any unauthorized instances of their works removed from the site.

News Corp.--whose holdings also include the Fox Television Network--acquired MySpace last year for $580 million. On Thursday (11/16), the company announced that Fox Interactive Media president Ross Levinsohn, the executive who spearheaded the MySpace acquisition, had resigned.

Last month, UMG reached an agreement with video-sharing site YouTube--which Google recently acquired for $1.65 billion--that offers YouTube users access to UMG-owned video content. Warner Music Group struck a similar deal with YouTube.

Google has earmarked $200 million in stock to cover the cost of potential legal fights over copyright infringement, according to the Associated Press.