or at least the albums from Boylan Heights through Still Life.... -caw

Thursday January 25 3:24 AM ET
TVT Records Drops Lawsuit Against Napster

By Sue Zeidler

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Independent music label TVT Records, home to acts
like rapper Snoop Dogg, said on Thursday it has dropped an estimated $1.5
billion in copyright infringement claims against song-swap service Napster
(news - web sites).

TVT president Steven Gottlieb said the basis for its decision to end the
lawsuit and provide its support to Napster is the new service Napster is
evolving under the strategic alliance it recently announced with Bertelsmann
AG .

Bertelsmann is parent of BMG Music, which is one of five big record
companies suing Napster for copyright infringement. Napster, which enables
users to swap songs for free has attracted over 45 million users and sparked
a revolution in the music industry.

Bertelsmann in October broke ranks with the major labels and said it would
drop its suit once Napster was transformed into a fee-charging service that
pays royalties to artists and record companies.

Since BMG is still party to the litigation, TVT becomes the first record
label to fully settle with Napster, both companies said on Thursday.

TVT filed its suit in June in U.S. District Court in the Southern District
of New York. A spokesman said the suit sought $150,000 per infringement and
that 10,000 separate copyrights were involved.

``Napster will be an important revenue stream for artists once the new
service rolls out,'' Gottlieb said.

Bertelsmann, which has invested an estimated $50 million to $70 million to
Napster, has invited other labels to join in the alliance but before
Wednesday only Edel Music of Germany had joined.

``I am afraid that copyright owner's resistance to finding workable
solutions with Internet music providers may result in consumers, artists and
the industry itself ultimately being harmed,'' Gottlieb said.

Executives from other labels, which are all developing their own online
subscription services, have said that Napster has offered little to entice
them to join the alliance. Napster and Bertelsmann said they have a business
model but have provided little details.

``The future of Napster provides an opportunity to reach music fans in
unprecedented and as yet unimagined ways,'' Gottlieb said, admitting that
the new service ``is not entirely nailed down.''

Financial terms of the settlement were not disclosed, but TVT said it will
allow the master recordings and musical compositions it owns or controls to
be used for file sharing on the Napster service.

Gottlieb also agreed to act as advisor to Napster in its effort to address
the concerns of artists, songwriters, and record and publishing companies.

``Moving this conversation from the courtroom to the boardroom helps us
advance file sharing as a benefit to artists and songwriters as well as
music fans,'' said Hank Barry, chief executive officer of Napster.

``This new arrangement is further evidence that the alliance we developed
with Bertelsmann is the right direction for the industry to take.''

Barry declined to predict when the new service would be ready to launch and
said he was continuing to talk with many industry representatives.

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