Australian ISP OzEmail Ltd has reached a financial settlement with the Australian Performing Rights Association (APRA), resolving – for the moment – a long-running copyright dispute over the transfer of music over the internet. APRA sued OzEmail in 1997, saying the company had published members’ work over the net in November 1996, and sought $1 annually for each of OzEmail’s subscribers. OzEmail now has an 180,000-strong customer base. This week’s settlement, for an undisclosed sum, is good for the next twelve months, but it is expected that in the interim, the federal government will have enacted copyright legislation limiting ISP liability for copyright infringements that take place on customer web sites. OzEmail has not admitted liability for the alleged breach.
