U2's record label is reportedly to blame for leaking a copy of their highly anticipated forthcoming album 'No Line On The Horizon' before its February 27 release date.

The leak has been traced to Universal Music Group's Australian branch, which was selling high-quality downloads of the new album at Getmusic.au earlier this week, according to Rolling Stone.

The mistake was not caught for a couple of hours, and by then the album had been downloaded and shared across the internet.

U2 and their record label have not yet commented on the gaffe, but it is likely that U2 are none too pleased as they have taken several measures to ensure the security of the album up until now. Perhaps as a result, the band are now streaming the album in its entirety on MySpace and this Sunday (February 22) on Spotify, as previously reported.