San Francisco - Three of the four major record labels have signed on to back Choruss, an independent nonprofit organization that would collect and distribute monies paid by universities and Internet service providers for blanket digital music licenses, Wired.com reported, citing an industry source.

Wired noted that a whois lookup found that Choruss.com was registered by OneHouse Digital, a company run by Jim Griffin -- recently hired by Warner Music Group as a digital strategist.

Under the plan being proposed to a number of universities, students would pay a general fee that would allow them unlimited access and use of music, including downloading on file-sharing networks, while Choruss would distribute all proceeds to major and independent artists and copyright holders alike.

Universal Music Group is the lone holdout on the Choruss plan, according to Wired.com's source.

Related Links:
http://blog.wired.com/business/2008/12/warner-music-gr.html

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20081208/1955023057.shtml

http://snipurl.com/7pnvf (DMW previous coverage)