Federal judge sets formula for Internet music royalties

On Wednesday, U.S. District Judge William Conner established a formula for determining the Internet royalties owed to thousands of music composers, writers and publishers by three major online services - Yahoo Inc., AOL and RealNetworks. The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers hailed the decision, estimating the guidelines could yield as much as $100 million in payments covering a seven-year period ending in 2009. The trade group, known as ASCAP, had contended that its 320,000 members weren't being properly compensated for musical works that helped drive traffic and increase revenue for Yahoo, Time Warner Inc.'s AOL and RealNetworks.
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Online music services could pay $100 million in royalties (Reuters))
http://www.reuters.com/article/internetNews/idUSN3056366720080501