U.S. District Judge Jed Rakoff today awarded $53.4 million in statutory damages and attorneys fees to the Universal Music Group in its copyright infringement suit against MP3.com, Inc.

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Last January, UMG and others filed the lawsuit challenging MP3.com's copying of thousands of copyrighted CDs onto its file servers to create its My.MP3.com 'locker' service. MP3.com does not intend to appeal from the judgment.

Concurrently, it was announced that UMG has granted MP3.com a non-exclusive, North American license for the use of UMG-controlled recordings on the My.MP3.com system, including the "Beam-it" and "Instant Listening" software services.

"Universal Music pursued this case to send a strong message that copyrights will be protected and that copyright owners and artists need to be properly compensated for use of their work," said Zach Horowitz, President and Chief Operating Officer, UMG. "Although we believe our proof at trial would have led to a greater damage award, we are satisfied with the award. It was never our intent to put MP3.com out of business with a judgment so large that it would threaten their viability as a company. We support the development of legitimate music business on the Internet."

Michael Robertson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MP3.com stated: "We are glad that this case is now behind us and that we will be able to include UMG's music as part of our My.MP3.com service. We look forward to returning our entire focus to capitalizing on the tremendous opportunity in the digital delivery of music and letting consumers listen to CDs which they own in the digital age. As we move ahead, this provides clear evidence that the needs of rights holders and music fans can be accommodated in the digital music space. The marketplace that has served artists and consumers for so long will continue to thrive in the era of the Internet."

 

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