Stories about: Universal Music Group

Google's YouTube will soon give marketers more data about viewership of its videos, so that they have a better understanding of clips' reach and effectiveness at boosting brand awareness and sales.

The high-definition movie disc battle between HD DVD and Blu-ray Disc can be traced all the way back to 2000, when companies began experimenting with using new blue lasers in optical disc systems.

Thousands of e-mails detailing the operations of MediaDefender, a company hired by movie studios and record labels to flood file-sharing networks with fake files of pirated films and albums, have leaked to the Internet.

The cofounder of a Web site that offers free streamed music from top artists said he's determined to operate his service legally despite menacing overtures from Universal Music Group.

A technology mostly associated today with crackdowns on music and movie pirates could instead be used to help make multimedia content free -- and file-sharing legal.

Universal Music Group (UMG) is the latest major music label to offer music downloads without copy protection.

The music publishing companies that represent rap artist Eminem have filed a multimillion-dollar suit against Apple Inc. for selling downloads of Eminem's music on iTunes online music service without compensating them. The suit could have ramifications for the current compensation plan that online music services have for divvying up profits between record labels and the publishing companies that hold rights to artists' songs.

Just hours before Google announced a US$1.6 billion acquisition of YouTube on Monday, both companies separately revealed agreements with major music labels for offering music videos on their respective sites. The deals, especially those between YouTube and the record companies, take on new significance since the acquisition, says one leading industry analyst.

Google has laid speculation to rest -- it is buying YouTube for US$1.65 billion in a stock transaction.

In a dramatic close to the legal battle between file-sharing software developer Kazaa and the entertainment industry, Kazaa said on Thursday that it has agreed to pay at least US$100 million to four record companies and an additional amount to motion picture companies to settle two lawsuits.

The operators of the Kazaa file-sharing service have been given until Dec. 5 to update their software with a filter to screen out copyright material or else face the prospect of being shut down.