Universal Music is reportedly close to reaching a settlement with Bolt.com, the YouTube rival which it launched litigation against last year.
Universal's action against Bolt.com and another video sharing service, Sony Corp owned Grouper, followed tough words from the major's chief, Doug Morris, regarding the unauthorised distribution of music owned by the record company via content sharing websites. Those tough words were aimed initially at the big player, YouTube, but they managed to avoid legal action by reaching a licensing and profit/stock share deal with the record company. The smaller players didn't reach such deals, hence the legal action.
Despite initially criticising Universal's litigious approach, reports suggest an out of court settlement between the two companies will amount pretty much to a complete climb down by Bolt.com, who are expected to admit copyright infringement and pay Universal in the region of several million dollars in compensation. The company is also reportedly negotiating similar settlements with the other majors, so much so it has reportedly agreed to sell itself to smaller rival GoFish in order to raise the money to pay the labels.
Insiders say Universal hope any favourable Bolt.com settlement will force Grouper to also comply with its demands.