Companies release copyright guidelines

Guidelines released this week by leading Internet firms could help to de-fuse the growing tension between copyright owners and sites that host user-generated content.

A group including Viacom, Walt Disney, Microsoft Corp, Myspace, Dailymotion, CBS Corp and NBC Universal, have set the guidelines to protect copyright material from unauthorised use online.

The guidelines call for sites with user-generated content to use filtering technology to prevent unauthorised and pirated material being posted, and for sites to remove content which infringes copyright rules.

They also require sites to upgrade filtering technology regularly and to put procedures in place to deal with copyright infringement claims.

The guidelines aim to help web sites and copyright owners work together in order to bring more content to more consumers through legitimate channels.

Google, which owns popular video-sharing site YouTube, has not joined the project. It recently announced a test version of filtering technology to stop unauthorised content appearing on YouTube, but now faces pressure to join the new initiative.