Music download marketer MP3.com has settled a copyright infringement suit with major music labels BMG Entertainment and Warner Music Group in an arrangement that will allow it to include the labels’ songs in its database, according to Reuters.
Terms of the two settlements were not disclosed, but sources familiar with the deals said each label was to get between $15 million and $25 million to settle the suit. In addition, MP3.com would also pay an undisclosed fee each time that label’s compact discs are registered by a user and another fee each time a user accesses one of its songs.
In a related development, the European Union came out with an agreement on a copyright law to protect music, films and other works distributed online within its borders.
The settlements follow a U.S. District Court ruling on April 28 that MP3.com infringed on the labels’ copyrights by creating a database of more than 80,000 albums, which, when combined with MP3.com’s My.MP3.com software, lets users store music digitally and retrieve it from any computer.
Warner and BMG, are the first to settle the suit, brought by five major labels in January. The others are still in negotiations.
The settlements follow a U.S. District Court ruling in April that MP3.com infringed on the labels’ copyrights by creating a database of over 80,000 albums, which, in conjunction with the firm’s My.MP3.com software, allows users to store music digitally and then access it via any computer.
Neither Warner, BMG, nor MP3.com would comment on the specifics.
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