A small group of independent music publishers have filed a lawsuit against Apple Computer’s iTunes Music Store and several other online music services. The suit, filed in the Federal District Court in Los Angeles, alleges the services did not secure the necessary licenses to allow the music to be sold and downloaded.
Euro Tec Publishing, Bruce Caplin, Prestoons Music and related companies filed the suit, which said the online services failed to follow the proper procedures to license previously recorded and released songs.
Also named in the lawsuit are AOL Music Now, Buy.com, Microsoft, Napster, RealNetworks Digital Music of California, Record Town, Sony Connect, Virgin Entertainment Group, Wal-Mart and Yahoo!, according to Billboard magazine.
Apple representatives were not immediately available for comment.