Universal Music Group is poised to win a small battle in its war to claim royalties from sites that allow users to upload videos that contain its music.
Universal, the country’s largest music label, is in the final stages of negotiating a settlement with Bolt.com, an online community that it sued last November over copyright infringement.
Bolt has agreed to admit that the uploads were a violation of Universal’s copyrights and to pay a settlement valued at several million dollars, said Aaron Cohen, Bolt’s chief executive. Bolt will also agree to pay royalties in the future any time its users submit videos that contain Universal Music.
Peter Lofrumento, a Universal spokesman, confirmed that the company, which represents artists like U2, Kanye West and Mariah Carey, is in talks with Bolt. The settlement could be concluded as soon as this week.
