Kevin Murray, the Californian senator who has been pursuing the rights of recording artists by attempting to pass legislation that would force record labels to more clearly account for record sales and royalty payments, and to bring to an end the standard seven year record contract period, is turning his attention to music downloading. He will chair an "informational hearing" on file-sharing, digital rights management and the peer-to-peer technology today, with representatives from download enemy number one KaZaA, plus a range of technology companies and music industry associations (including the Record Industry of America Association) expected to attend. Meanwhile legit download service MusicNow has completed new, nonexclusive licensing deals to carry music from Sony and BMG's catalogues. This deal means the service now has licenses for conditional or permanent downloads from all five major record companies.
Mar 27, 2003
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1 min read
Senator leads download debate
Californian senator Kevin Murray is chairing a hearing on file-sharing and digital rights, while MusicNow has signed non-exclusive licences for Sony and BMG catalogues.