MP3.com settles copyright suit with Sony

Music swapping company MP3.com has settled its copyright lawsuit with Sony in a move that will require users to show that they have paid for CDs accessed using the service.

MP3.com will pay a reported $20m (£13m) settlement fee for past swapping of Sony copyrighted material on its My.MP3.com system, and has agreed a non-exclusive North American licence with Sony for future use.

Users of MP3.com's Beam-It and Instant Listening software will be required, among other things, to verify that they have purchased the physical CDs of Sony copyrighted music before being able to access the files via their My.MP3.com Music Manager.

Michael Robertson, chief executive at MP3.com, said: "MP3.com respects the rights of copyright holders, and with this settlement and licence we can offer consumers an avenue to access music online from CDs they have purchased."

MP3.com has reached similar settlements with Time Warner, BMG and EMI recently. A lawsuit filed by Universal Music Group is ongoing, and MP3.com still also faces a court battle with certain music publishers over other alleged copyright infringements.

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British music industry officials today welcomed the decision by a US judge to pull the plug on the Napster music swapping system, saying it would help their fight against online music piracy in the UK.  27 Jul 2000

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