A spokesperson for Billy Bragg stated that a certain term within the MySpace terms and conditions gives MySpace full rights and ownership of the music once it is on the site. The clause in question dictates that artists will give MySpace “a non-exclusive, fully-paid and royalty-free, worldwide license”. This, in effect, means they can do as they like with the content of the site (including songs) without having to pay the artist or even ask their permission.

MySpace claim the clause exists only to ensure that the site can publish it exactly as the artist wishes on the pages of the MySpace website. MySpace are working to alter the terms of their site in order to help clear up what they describe as a “misunderstanding”.

MySpace has quickly found fame and become on of the most popular and most widely used websites in the world. The social networking site allows users to create and update their very own page and allows them to include virtually any content they choose. For this reason, it has become popular with aspiring and discovered artists alike. The news of these worrying terms may be a mistake but MySpace needs to act quickly to avoid being labeled as just another website looking to make money from musicians.