The Universal Music Group, the world's largest music company, has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against MySpace and parent company the News Corporation for allowing users to upload and download copyrighted songs and music videos.

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Los Angeles, is seen as part of a strategy by Universal to test provisions of a federal law that provides a "safe harbor" to internet companies that follow certain procedures to filter out copyrighted works, according to the New York Times. The law requires sites to remove such content after being notified by the copyright holder.

The suit comes as the recording industry contends with how to exploit its copyrighted material online. The issue has taken on more importance as services built around user-generated content are slowly being monetized largely through advertising revenue. If Universal can win in court, it is likely to gain leverage in negotiating licensing terms with user-driven services - just at the moment that those services are attracting deep-pocketed partners.

MySpace said in a statement that it complies with the requirements of federal law: "We provide users with tools to share their own work - we do not induce, encourage, or condone copyright violation in any way."