Veteran English rocker Billy Bragg has been well known for his support of left wing causes throughout his prolific career, so he must be pleased with his latest victory - forcing Rupert Murdoch owned MySpace to change their copyright ownership terms and conditions. In May Bragg withdrew his songs from MySpace, in protest over the legal terms and conditions of the site that claimed ownership over any copyrighted materials posted on the service.

As a direct result of Bragg's protest, MySpace has now changed its basic terms and conditions to indicate that it does not claim ownership over any of the materials posted onto the site. It's a good move for MySpace, the adoption of the service by the music industry has given MySpace an edge over competing community sites such as Friendster and the departure of musicians from the service would be a major blow.

The MySpace situation is an all too common result of companies trying too hard to protect themselves legally when operating community sites such at this one. Companies such as MySpace need to phrase their terms and conditions broadly enough so that they are allowed to use intellectual property posted on their service legally, while at the same time not encroaching on the rights of the persons that use the service. In the MySpace context, the t&c went too far and threatened to alienate the artists that have made the community site such a hot destination.