Music Publishers, Kazaa to Settle Copyright Infringement Case

Authored by Mark Hefflinger on November 1, 2006 - 2:37pm.

Los Angeles - Music publishers suing the peer-to-peer file-sharing service Kazaa for copyright infringement announced that they have reached an anticipated settlement that includes a "substantial sum" that will be paid to compensate the publishers.

The National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) said the settlement with Kazaa was reached after months of negotiations. Earlier this year, Kazaa settled similar litigation with the major record labels and movie studios, agreeing to add filtering technology to its service and pay $115 million in compensation.

"The anticipated settlement represents an important victory for songwriters, music publishers and music fans alike," said NMPA president and CEO David Israelite. "It will be another key milestone in the ongoing transformation of the digital music marketplace to one that will allow legal services to thrive."

Related Links:
http://www.nmpa.org/pressroom/showrelease.asp?id=122
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061101/ap_on_hi_te/downloading_music (AP)