ASCAP Ready To License Napster

The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers
(ASCAP), administrators of performance royalties for songwriters,
reportedly said on Thursday it continued to be ready and willing to
issue a license to distribute performances of copyrighted music to
beleaguered online song-swap service Napster Inc.

A report by Reuters today cited ASCAP president and chairman Marilyn
Bergman as saying that her organization had already indicated in
discussions with Napster that it has never sought to shut the service
down. "Indeed, we would be happy to see it grow and prosper," she is
quoted as saying in response to inquiries about a pending alliance
announced between Napster and Bertelsmann AG, parents of BMG music,
which would see Napster transformed into a paid-membership operation.

Reuters noted that ASCAP is the world's largest performing-rights
organization, with over 100,000 composer, lyricist and music
publisher members, and further quoted Bergman as saying, "We ask only
that it be licensed for its performances of music so that songwriters
may be fairly compensated for the use of their works. We welcome any
mutually agreeable resolution of the outstanding issues among the
interested parties."