BMG settles Napster infringement case

September 01, 2007 Bertelsmann AG has agreed to pay music publishers $130 million to settle a copyright infringement case brought on by the German media giant's deal with the Napster P2P company. If approved as expected by a federal judge, the deal announced Friday by the National Music Publishers Assn. and BMG would end the four-year lawsuit that accused Bertelsmann of contributing to Napster's copyright infringement as an original investor -- before the online music company changed its business model and became a recognized distributor of licensed music via paid downloads. Napster eventually was shuttered by U.S. courts in 2002 over copyright violations but has attempted to re-establish itself as a legitimate online music distributor.

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