Apple Inc (AAPL)

[fmikehugo]

08:53 AAPL Apple: EU ruling gives iTunes and online music stores a boost - WSJ (169.64 ) -Update-

WSJ reports European Union regulators ordered music-copyright groups to end a system that makes it difficult for online music stores to buy EU-wide licenses -- knocking down a major obstacle to iTunes' rollout across Europe.

Internet music downloads in Europe lag behind those in the U.S., pulling in just a fraction of the revenue the record industry is losing from falling CD sales. Part of the problem in Europe is that music rights are sold separately in each country, which has prevented Apple's iTunes from setting up a single store from which it can service all of Europe. Instead, it has had to seek licenses from each EU member state in which it wishes to sell. The European Commission told music copyright groups -- also called collecting societies -- to end a system of contracts that allow artists to collect payments only from an agency based in their own country.