Washington - The rate that digital retailers like Apple's (NASD: AAPL) iTunes must pay songwriters and music publishers will stay the same under a decision handed down Thursday by the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB), which rejected the publishers' petition for a 66% rate hike. The decision to freeze royalty rates at 9 cents per song for songwriters and music publishers comes as it was revealed this week by Fortune magazine, that Apple said in a letter sent to the CRB last year it might shutter its iTunes music store should it have to incur any increase in music royalties that would make the store unprofitable.

New York - In a statement filed with the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) last year, Apple (NASD: AAPL) threatened to shut down its iTunes Store should the board increase in the royalty rates that would make the Web store unprofitable -- a move the board may make tomorrow, Fortune reported. Songwriters and music publishers have petitioned the CRB to increase their royalty payments by six cents per song, a hike opposed by Apple and others including the major record labels, who favor paying instead a percentage of total revenues ranging from 6% to 8%.

Washington - The major record labels, music publishers and large webcasters on Tuesday announced a breakthrough agreement on royalty payments for interactive streaming and limited digital downloads, which will for the first time see mechanical royalty payments on these services. Under the agreement, which was submitted as draft regulations to the Copyright Royalty Board, providers of limited download and interactive streaming services -- including subscription and ad-supported services -- will generally pay a mechanical royalty of 10.5% of revenue, with minimum payments in certain circumstances.

Washington - Congress last week approved a reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, a wide-ranging bill covering U.S. universities that includes controversial new provisions governing how schools deal with file-sharing on campus.

New York - The major players in contentious negotiations over digital music royalties, which pit music publishers, record labels and digital music services against one another, have reached a settlement on two of five major issues, Billboard reported, citing an account from David Israelite, president and CEO of the National Music Publishers Association (NMPA).

Washington - The House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday approved the PRO-IP Act, a bill that would provide more resources for the government to combat intellectual property crimes, increase penalties, and create a White House-level position to coordinate efforts. The bill, which was already amended to remove a portion that would have penalized each track on compilation CDs as a separate infringement, will now move to a vote in the full House; a Senate version of the bill was introduced last fall.

Washington - Several members of the National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA) on Wednesday filed a class action copyright infringement lawsuit against MediaNet, a company that powers digital music services for Microsoft, Yahoo, MTV and others, claiming they failed to obtain proper licenses for use of songwriters' and publishers' works.

Washington - The Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) began hearing arguments from music publishers, record labels, and digital music distributors on Monday, on how much songwriters and music publishers should be paid when music is streamed or downloaded, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Washington - The Digital Media Association (DiMA), which represents large webcasters like Yahoo, (NASD: YHOO) AOL (NYSE: TWX) and Microsoft (NASD: MSFT), has filed a brief asking the Copyright Royalty Board (CRB) to refer the question of whether or not an interactive music stream needs a separate "reproduction" license, in addition to the performance license they already pay, to the U.S. Copyright Office, Billboard reported. "Digital music services believe that digital performances are like radio and should require a performance license only," DiMA said in a statement, referring to the license that both webcasters and radio broadcasters pay to performing rights organizations ASCAP, BMI and SESAC.

Washington - The National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA), a trade association that represents over 700 U.S. music publishers, announced on Friday that it has settled its lawsuit against German media conglomerate Bertelsmann, over the company's investment in the Napster file-sharing service in 2000.

Madison, Wisc. - Musicnotes, a retailer of digital sheet music, announced on Tuesday that it has acquired MXTabs.net, a site that features over 150,000 user-generated guitar, bass and drum tablatures, and has signed ad revenue-sharing agreements with music publishers that will allow the site to come back online.

Washington - The National Music Publishers Association (NMPA), an organization of more than 600 U.S. music publishing companies representing the rights of songwriters, announced on Thursday that it has sued XM Satellite Radio for failing to pay royalties on its XM + MP3 digital music download service.