Sony BMG Partners With Warner/Chappell

Reuters:  Sony BMG Music Entertainment has signed a broad-based licensing deal with Warner/Chappell Music for publishing rights to a variety of new digital entertainment formats - including DualDisc, ringtones, ringbacks, video-on-demand services and video downloads. In general, the music publishing industry has been pushing for 'experimental deals' that don't set long-term precedents because the legal system is so far behind the technology. However, the major deals that have been brokered thus far are "finding a way around the central sticking point that labels and publishers have experienced in their negotiations related to new digital formats: the publishers' assertion that they are not bound by the same compulsory licensing rate that governs their CD and digital download royalties."

According to Ron Wilcox, executive VP/chief business and legal affairs officer for Sony BMG Music Entertainment, "The good thing for both parties is they can be comfortable that opportunities aren't being lost. That's the greatest danger as we try to negotiate between ourselves what might be appropriate. It's important to not over-negotiate and lose the opportunity to develop a new business."