Press Release
| HFA and Goodnoise enter into MP3 Digitial Phonorecored Delivery License Agreement. |
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Landmark Agreement Will Allow GoodNoise to Easily Obtain Mechanical Licenses for Songs in Its Downloadable Music Catalog NEW YORK & PALO ALTO -- The Harry Fox Agency, Inc. (HFA), the wholly owned licensing subsidiary of the National Music Publishers' Association (NMPA), and GoodNoise Corporation (NASD OTC:GDNO), the Internet's leading seller of downloadable music, today announced that HFA will grant GoodNoise the first Digital Phonorecord Delivery License for delivering songs in the MP3 (MPEG 1, Layer 3) format. Under the terms of the agreement, GoodNoise will submit regular reports to HFA, account for each song purchased and pay the appropriate statutory payments to HFA for distribution to copyright owners. The agreement is a significant milestone in the evolution of digitally downloadable music because it helps ensure that songwriters and music publishers will receive accurate royalty payments for music distributed electronically in the United States. "We are extremely pleased to establish this license agreement with GoodNoise, which we believe will serve as a model for licensing musical compositions in downloadable formats," said Edward P. Murphy, President and CEO of HFA. "As customer demand for music distributed in downloadable format continues to expand, music publishers need to feel comfortable that they will be appropriately compensated. We applaud GoodNoise's efforts, and the efforts of other law abiding sites, to ensure that the rights of songwriters are protected." "GoodNoise is absolutely committed to making sure that songwriters and publishers receive fair and accurate compensation for their intellectual property," said Bob Kohn, Chairman of GoodNoise. "HFA represents nearly every major music publisher in the U.S. and this agreement clearly represents the future of how mechanical royalties will be managed." How It Works The new license agreement will establish a mechanism for HFA to administer and protect the rights of its publisher members for musical compositions downloaded from the Internet. Companies such as GoodNoise, which distribute downloadable music, are required by U.S. law to pay the owner of a musical composition a statutory fee for each download. GoodNoise will report the number of downloads of each title from its website or affiliated sites and pay HFA the appropriate fees, thereby dramatically reducing the administrative licensing burden on the website. As part of the licensing arrangement, GoodNoise will also embed an HFA licensing number, known as the MultiMedia Identifier (MMI), into every musical composition downloaded from its website. This will assure the consumer that the title he or she has purchased is properly licensed. About The Harry Fox Agency, Inc. HFA is a wholly owned subsidiary of NMPA, the principal trade association of music publishers in the United States. HFA represents over 20,000 publisher principals in the issuance of mechanical recording licenses, digital phonorecord delivery licenses and other licensing activities. Established in 1927, HFA serves as an information source, clearinghouse and monitoring service for a large percentage of music manufactured, distributed and downloaded in the United States and around the world. About GoodNoise Since it was founded in January, 1998, GoodNoise Corporation has established itself as a clear leader in the rapidly expanding market for downloadable music. Through relationships with artists and license agreements with leading independent record labels, GoodNoise has emerged as the premier website for the sampling and purchasing of music in the MP3 (MPEG 1, Layer 3) format, which has emerged as the de facto standard in the digital distribution of music with millions of users around the world. GoodNoise.com features a constantly expanding catalog of music and offers music fans complete albums for $8.99 or the ability to purchase individual tracks for $.99. GoodNoise is based in Palo Alto, California. |
