By Heather McLean, 31 August 2001 14:09
NEWS Independent record label Zomba has settled a copyright infringement lawsuit with MP3.com - the former underground site that converted CDs into high quality MP3s, which has now gone legit in a deal with Vivendi Universal. According to a statement from the record label, Zomba, which represents Britney Spears among others, it has "resolved differences [with MP3.com] to their mutual satisfaction". Terms of the settlement were not disclosed by Zomba or MP3.com. MP3.com must now turn its attention to the 50-plus music publishers and songwriters who filed another lawsuit against the online music company within the last week. Speaking exclusively to silicon.com, a source from Gnutella, said: "MP3.com didn't ever really mean to be illegal. After Napster, big music labels just started suing them. They're tied down with technicalities." Vivendi's backing of the service, agreed on Wednesday with a stock and cash merger transaction worth $372m, couldn't have come at a better time as MP3.com continues to pay out on copyright infringement suits. It has already coughed up over $160m to major labels and publishers in the resolution of a separate case. Robin Richards, founder of MP3.com, was named chairman and CEO on Thursday. Vivendi gets a distribution platform and advanced technology through the acquisition.
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