MySpace has added video-filtering capabilities to its service, making it the largest video-sharing site to proactively block copyrighted material. MySpace is licensing the technology for the video filter from Audible Magic Corp., BizJournals reports. The system will scan videos and compare them to videos in a database, looking for a digital "fingerprint" that identifies it as copyrighted material. If a matching video is found, it is blocked from MySpace.

Universal Music Group is testing the new filter, and is blocking copyrighted videos, while still allowing UMG artists to share their videos on the site. NBC Universal and Fox are also testing the service.

Rival video-sharing site YouTube, acquired by Google last year, had promised to introduce by year's end a similar automatic filtering technology, but has not yet done so.