More royalty disputes, and digital music provider MediaNet - formerly MusicNet - has hit out at the US's National Music Publisher Association who, as previously reported, have begun legal action against them.
As reported last week, the NMPA, representing publishing outfits like Sony/ATV, Peer International, Frank Music and MPL Publishing, have accused MediaNet of reneging on past commitments to pay publishing royalties - of both the 'performing' and 'mechanical' kind - on their on-demand and limited play download services. There is an ongoing dispute over what publishing royalties such MediaNet services should pay - especially with mechanical royalties - but the publishers argue that MediaNet have changed their position regarding paying some royalties for past services once an agreement is finally reached.
But MediaNet has denied any wrongdoing, and criticised the legal action arguing it is one of the few organisations that actually has a long history of working with music companies to properly licence digital music services, in a domain dominated by illegal unlicensed music operations. In a statement on Thursday the company said this: "This complaint is completely without merit. In an age of rampant piracy, MediaNet is one of the few companies, along with Napster and RealNetworks, that pays copyright holders and artists for their work. The suit is contrary to the core beliefs and business model under which MediaNet (aka MusicNet) has operated since its inception".
Although it has a low profile among consumers, MediaNet provides the back-end to digital music services operated by a number of other brands and retailers.