Universal Music Said to License Songs
459373
Universal Music Group has licensed songs from its stable of artists including U2 and Eminem to a company that has developed technology designed to prevent the unauthorized distribution of audio tracks over online file-sharing networks, a source familiar with the venture said.
261485
Royalties, please The chief of the world's biggest record label, Universal Music Group, has hinted that the company will sue the video sharing site YouTube for copyright infringement.â¦
27576
Universal Music Group is testing the all-digital waters with a new label venture that sells its releases exclusively through download and streaming services like iTunes, Rhapsody and Napster.
465815
Universal Music seeks millions from Veoh, an online video-sharing site backed by Time Warner, alleging the site is ripping off Universal and its artists. Veoh counters that it removes copyright content when notified and complies with federal law.
264393
Then charges back out again The world's biggest record label is touting a scheme that would permit internet users to swap DRM-free music under a blanket license, according to a report. Universal Music Group's "TotalMusic" program would allow customers of ISPs who signed up to the program to exchange files freely - but only if the ISP signed up.â¦
754805
Universal Music Group, the world's   biggest record company, is stepping up pressure against popular   online sites YouTube and MySpace, accusing them of infringing   the copyrights of its artists' music videos.
439107
Amazon.com has added songs from Warner Music Group to the range it sells as MP3 files without DRM (digital rights management), the companies said Friday.The online retailer&#160;launched its music download service&#160;in September and now offers 2.9 million songs without copy prevention technology, including tracks from Warner, EMI, Universal, and 33,000 independent record labels -- although it has still not won over Sony BMG, the only one of the music majors still insisting on the use of DRM.Warner said it also planned to offer album bundles including exclusive tracks through the Amazon service.The move is a blow to Apple&#39;s iTunes Store, which has only persuaded EMI and a handful of independent labels to let it offer their tracks in the&#160;DRM-free iTunes Plus format it launched in May. The rest of the songs available through iTunes come with digital limitations on where they can be played, or how many times they can be burned to a CD.Three formats dominate the market for online music sales: MP3 and AAC, which are both open formats, and WMA, a proprietary format owned by Microsoft.MP3 files do not include provision for DRM: music recorded in that format will play on most digital music players, many mobile phones, and in software readily available for all the major operating systems, including Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux, opening up a huge potential market to Amazon and to other online music stores such as eMusic dealing in unprotected MP3 files.AAC is the format Apple chose for its iTunes Store. Most of the 6 million tracks in its catalog come wrapped in a proprietary DRM layer called FairPlay, although EMI and independents such as Sub Pop, Nettwerk, IODA and The Orchard also allow it to offer higher quality AAC recordings without DRM. The DRM-encumbered tracks will play on authorized iPods, iPhones, PCs, and Macs -- but won&#39;t play on digital music players from other vendors. Unprotected AAC files will also play on many mobile phones, PCs running Linux with the appropriate software, and even Microsoft&#39;s Zune digital music player.WMA files without DRM will play on PC or Macs using Windows Media Player, and some phones and digital music players -- although typically not on the same ones that play AAC files. Microsoft has also introduced a range of DRM systems enabling online stores to sell locked WMA files -- and later abandoned some of them, leaving a certain amount of confusion and doubt about whether devices and songs branded &quot;PlaysForSure&quot; really will play for sure.Industry executives expect initiatives such as iTunes Plus and Amazon MP3, which remove the DRM locks placed on music downloads by an earlier generation of music services, will encourage consumers to buy more music.Warner believes that giving consumers the assurance that the music they purchase can be played on any device they own will only encourage more sales of music, it said Friday.It may also persuade music-buyers to look at other brands of digital music player such as the Zune range from Microsoft, ending Apple&#39;s dominance of that market segment.With the locks off the music, Apple also faces the prospect of a price war with Amazon, which offers 1 million of its MP3 tracks for just $0.89, compared to the $0.99 Apple charges for all its tracks. Before the launch of Amazon MP3, Apple also charged a $0.30 premium for tracks in the iTunes Plus format, which is recorded at a higher quality than the DRM-encumbered versions. Other Amazon tracks sell for $0.99.
765865
A Web site that offers free streamed music from top artists said he's determined to operate his service legally.
95550
U.S. digital entertainment company  Gracenote on Thursday said it obtained licenses to distribute  lyrics as music publishers mulled legal action against Web  sites that provide them without authorization.
167453
A new service, supported by advertisements, will let consumers download a huge catalog of songs from the worldÂs largest record company for free.
769742
The nearly $2.1 billion deal would make Universal the worldÂs largest music publisher, with a catalog that includes performers of the standing of Elton John and B. B. King.
390600
Universal Music Group, the world's largest music company, has declined to sign a long-term deal with Apple Inc.'s iTunes music store, leaving open the possibility for exclusive deals with other services, an industry source said on Sunday.
375491
The world's biggest music firm, Universal, has given its backing to a free music downloads service.
4481
The latest version of Hymn can already remove DRM protection from songs purchased from the iTunes 7 store to enable playback on non-iPod players.  In Listening Post.
439439
Wednesday was the first day in the life of a new Central License Agreement for music copyright holders throughout Europe. Now, license authorities and music publishers have agreed to dismantle their "home territories" and recognize each other's copyrights. Is this the prototype for the EU's new single software patent authority?
506034
Universal Music is accusing the Bank of America of copyright violations after a video of two of the bankÂs employees singing a version of U2Âs ÂOneÂ hit the Internet.
734109
Universal Music Group, the world&#39;s  largest music company, said on Friday it closed its $2.19  billion acquisition of BMG Music Publishing, which means it can  begin to sell off some European publishing rights as directed  by regulators.