London - The Beatles have settled a $59 million dispute over royalties with record label EMI, London's Daily Telegraph reported. Along with the settlement in February of a dispute between the Beatles' label, Apple Corps, and Apple Computer over use of the "Apple" name with regard to music, the announcement could pave the way for songs by the Beatles -- longtime digital holdouts -- to begin selling at iTunes and other digital retailers. [more..]

New York - CBS Corporation announced on Thursday the creation of the CBS Interactive Audience Network, and new deals to distribute clips and full-length programs through partners including AOL, Microsoft, CNET, Comcast, Joost, Bebo, Brightcove, Netvibes, Sling Media and Veoh. [more..]

Los Angeles - Yahoo is in talks to acquire online college sports network Rivals.com, for a purchase price that could reach $100 million, PaidContent.org reported, citing anonymous sources. [more..]

Cupertino, Calif. - Apple said on Thursday that it will delay the launch of its new Macintosh operating system, Leopard, by four months, after the company was forced to borrow key resources from the project to complete its highly anticipated iPhone product. [more..]

Los Angeles - A federal judge has dismissed a file-sharing case brought by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) against a mother of five who claimed she did not download songs, or know her children had done so, Ars Technica reported. [more..]

London - Per order of the Chinese government, operators of online games in China have until July 16 to install software that restricts minors' access to their games, or else see their titles shut down, GamesIndustry.biz reported, citing an article in the People's Daily. [more..]

Cambridge, Mass. - Akamai Technologies, a provider of content delivery network services that speed media content across the Internet, has acquired Red Swoosh, a provider of peer-to-peer technology for managing and distributing large media files. [more..]

Washington - The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) announced that it has sent a third round of 413 "pre-litigation settlement letters" to 22 universities, notifying them of users on their networks suspected of illegal file-sharing and offering "discounted" settlements before lawsuits are filed. [more..]

New York - Forbes Media, the New York-based publisher of business news and information, has acquired Investopedia.com, a privately held, Canada-based website for investor education. [more..]

San Francisco - Technorati, a provider of blog search and ranking services, on Thursday announced its first major acquisition, Personal Bee -- a provider of personal news aggregation pages.
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New York - Time Inc. will shutter its TeenPeople.com website this month and direct visitors to teen-related stories on People.com, MediaWeek reported.
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Seattle - OnRequest Images, a provider of branded custom imagery, announced on Thursday that it has raised $9 million in its third round of venture capital financing, led by Menlo Ventures. [more..]

San Diego - Michael Robertson, the founder of the original MP3.com, on Thursday announced the launch of a new digital music venture, AnywhereCD, which will sell albums as 192K MP3 downloads and include a CD copy for an additional fee. At launch, the service is offering albums from artists including Madonna, Prince, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Shins and Metallica -- a band that has been reluctant to release its songs digitally. Album prices at AnywhereCD start at $9.95; Metallica's "Ride the Lightning" is selling for $11.95 as an MP3 album, and $14.95 for an MP3 album with CD copy. [more..]

Los Angeles - Video game publisher Acclaim Games announced on Thursday that it partnered with major record label Warner Music Group on a dance-based, free online multiplayer game. "DANCE! Online" lets players create their own avatars, and use either a keyboard or PC-compatible dance pad to perform choreographed dance steps along with up to six other players. Virtual clothing and accessories will be available for purchase, along with "song packs" from the Warner catalog. The game launched an open beta test this week, with in-game advertising provided through IGA Worldwide. [more..]

San Francisco - Dolby Laboratories announced on Thursday that the China Research Institute of Film Science & Technology will use its digital cinema technology in the country's first JPEG digital cinema mastering facility. The Dolby SCC2000 Secure Content Creator includes digital cinema compression, encoding, packaging and encryption capabilities. [more..]

Los Angeles - Electronics maker Philips on Thursday introduced a plug-in for digital media editing equipment maker Avid's products, that allow producers to add Philips digital watermarks to film, video, audio, animation and games content. Such watermarks can be used to track usage and help deter piracy. [more..]

San Antonio, Texas - Radio giant Clear Channel will provide audience data from its Online Music & Radio unit to BigChampagne, which tracks broadcast and streaming radio and downloads on peer-to-peer network, Billboard reported. Clear Channel will provide BigChampagne with streaming, download and broadcast Internet programming data. Beverly Hills, Calif.-based BigChampagne also provides online music charts for Billboard's Radio Monitor. [more..]

Sacramento, Calif. - Digital Music Group, Inc. (DMGI), a digital distributor of music and video content, announced on Thursday that it has acquired a number of classic children's shows and animated features, including the "Bozo the Clown Show," the "Howdy Doody Show" and "Gigantor." Financial terms were not disclosed. Sacramento-based DMGI said the catalogs total more than 400 episodes and 150 hours of programming. The company's network of retail partners includes Apple's iTunes Store, Google Video, Verizon and Sprint. [more..]