Napster, BMG Entertainment In War Of Words

One of five big music companies suing Napster for
copyright infringement, BMG Entertainment, a unit of Germany's
Bertelsmann AG, reportedly said on Tuesday it proposed various
business models to the song-swap site, contrary to Napster's claims
of the opposite.

A Reuters report quoted BMG Entertainment's chief marketing officer
and president, Kevin Conroy, as saying, "Napster's statement is
completely inaccurate." The declaration was made in reference to
Napster Chief Executive Hank Barry's statements issued on Monday
after oral arguments were heard in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals
in San Francisco.

At that time, Barry declared that he was surprised Napster had been
unable to settle the case out of court because his company had made
serious proposals over several months to each record company and
publishing affiliate, which had been rejected, Reuters said, adding
that Barry insisted the record companies made no counterproposals.
Conroy said that, "BMG has in fact discussed various business
proposals with Napster. But Napster has never addressed the important
issue of licensing nor proposed anything approaching a sound,
legitimate business model." Barry told Reuters on Tuesday that he
stands by his remarks, adding, "I made several proposals to each of
the five major record companies and their music publishing
affiliates. Each proposal would result in payments of substantial
percentages of Napster's expected revenues to compensate artists and
rights holders."