KaZaA now settles with music publishers

After more than 2 months of negotiations, KaZaA has now reached a deal with the music publishing industry to settle its claims of copyright infringement.

KaZaA, told the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles on Monday that it had reached a tentative deal with the National Music Publishers’ Association, or NMPA, It has agreed to “… pay a substantial sum to compensate music publishers and songwriters for the infringement of musical works on the Kazaa network.“

In a statement by the NMPA, they write:

For Immediate Release (October 30, 2006) – Counsel for the music publisher plaintiffs in the ongoing litigation against the operators of the Kazaa peer-to-peer network informed the U.S. District Court in Los Angeles today that the music publishers have reached an anticipated settlement of the publishers’ class action litigation against the operators of the Kazaa peer-to-peer network.

The settlement, reached after months of negotiations, is subject to final approval of the formal agreement by the board of the National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), which sponsored the litigation on the publishers’ behalf, the representative class plaintiffs and the court.

Under the terms of the settlement, Kazaa has agreed to pay a substantial sum to compensate music publishers and songwriters for the infringement of musical works on the Kazaa network.

“The anticipated settlement represents an important victory for songwriters, music publishers and music fans alike,” said David Israelite, NMPA President and CEO. “It will be another key milestone in the ongoing transformation of the digital music marketplace to one that will allow legal services to thrive.”

This comes on the heels of the settlement back in July with music labels and movie studios for a reported $115 million USD.

This agreement is another in a long line of settlements that have been hammered out since the infamous Supreme Court Grokster decision of last year. Having been decided that these companies “actively encouraged” copyright infringement, the music and entertainment industry have been lined up to get their share of “KaZaA’s wealth.”

SOULXTC: walking the streets of P2P