Press Release

Replicator MPO/Americ Reaches Historic Agreement With National Music Publishers' Association to Help Curb Music Piracy in the United States.

NEW YORK - The MPO/Americ Group (Americ), the world's largest independent relpicator of compact discs, and the National Music Publishers' Association, Inc. (NMPA), the trade association for the American music publishing industry, announced today that they have joined forces in the fight against copyright piracy. The organizations plan to embark on a three-phase program to implement their goal of eradicating the manufacture by replicators in the United States of CD's and tapes which are later distributed to the public containing unlicensed, copyrighted musical compositions.

The first phase of their announced plan will concern the immediate commencement of technical studies. With the assistance of NMPA's wholly owned licensing subsidiary, The Harry Fox Agency, Inc. (HFA) - which serves as licensing agent for over 25,000 U.S. music publishers - NMPA and Americ will determine what technical and informational resources they can jointly develop to assist Americ in rapidly identifying the licensing status of musical compositions in the HFA database. Examples of currently existing resources that will assist Americ and other replicators in complying with the U.S. Copyright Act include the "Songfile" electronic database of musical compositions developed by NMPA/HFA.

Once technical and informational procedures are preliminarily established, the next phase calls for Americ and NMPA to make them known to other members of the replication industry in order to seek their input, with the goal of refining standards for efficient and effective industry-wide application. For its part, Americ will also share its industry-leading internal anti-piracy procedures will all interested groups. Finally, after the technical and informational resources are developed into industry-wide standards, Americ and NMPA will make them available to all members of the replication industry, and will strive together to gain industry-wide compliance with such standards.

Edward P. Murphy, President & CEO of NMPA, expressed his enthusiastic support for the plan. "I am very pleased that the MPO/Americ Group has come forward to lead its industry in a cooperative effort with NMPA to create procedures that are designed to help eliminate the replication of phonorecords containing unlicensed musical compositions. NMPA/HFA had previously engaged in a campaign to warn the replicators in the United States that unless they exercised more caution in determining the licensed or unlicensed status of such compositions owned or controlled by HFA publishers, their exposure to copyright infringement suits and liability was a very real possibility. It is gratifying that these efforts to educate replicators of their potential liability for copyright infringement has led to this very positive approach to the recognition of the rights under copyright enjoyed by music publishers and their songwriter partners."

The President & CEO of Americ Disc, Robert Doyon, similarly expressed excitement about strengthening Americ's cooperative relationship with NMPA. "This is a golden opportunity for The MPO/Americ Group, as well as for the rest of the replication industry. Our goal is to make it as easy and cost-effective as possible for all members of the replication industry to comply with their obligations under the copyright law. Industry standards and easy access to updated, accurate licensing information will go a long way towards making this happen."

Americ Disc is a major North American provider of CD/DVD manufacturing services and other optical disc media. Transcontinental Group of Montreal, a leader in the North American communications industry and MPO of France, the largest independent optical disc manufacturer in Europe, jointly own Americ Disc. The MPO/Americ Group is the largest independent optical disc manufacturing group in the world and comprises MPO Europe, MPO Asia and Americ Disc in North America.

With nine plants, four distribution centers and a network of sales offices across three continents - Europe, Asia and North America - MPO/Americ provides global customized solutions to the entertainment and information communities. In addition to its disc replication services, MPO/Americ offers a full range of value-added services, included printing, assembly, packaging, shipping and distribution.

The National Music Publishers' Association, Inc., founded in 1917, works to protect and advance the interests of the music publishing industry. With over 700 members, NMPA represents the most important and influential music publishing firms throughout the United States. The Harry Fox Agency, Inc., the licensing subsidiary of NMPA, provides an information source, clearing house and monitoring service for licensing musical copyrights, and represents more than 25,000 music publisher principals and more than 150,000 songwriters.