Via Beau (Beau HD) Hamilton: “The Internet Archive has reached a confidential settlement with Universal Music Group and other major labels, “ending a closely watched copyright battle over the nonprofit’s effort to digitize and stream historic recordings,” reports the San Francisco Chronicle. From the report: The case (PDF), UMG Recordings, Inc. v. Internet Archive, targeted the Archive’s Great 78 Project, an initiative to digitize more than 400,000 fragile shellac records from the early 20th century. The collection includes music by artists such as Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday, and has been made available online for free public access. Record labels including Universal, Sony Music Entertainment and Capitol Records had sought $621 million in damages, arguing the Archive’s streaming of these recordings constituted copyright infringement. The Internet Archive, based in San Francisco’s Richmond District, describes itself as a digital library dedicated to providing “universal access to all knowledge.” Its director of library services, Chris Freeland, acknowledged the settlement in a brief statement. “The parties have reached a confidential resolution of all claims and will have no further public comment on this matter,” he wrote…”

See also RollingStone no paywall] – Several major record labels and rights holders have settled their $621 million copyright infringement suit against the Internet Archive over its efforts to digitize, preserve, and share 78 rpm records. Attorneys for both sides filed the joint notice of settlement in the California district court on Monday, Sept. 15. It states only that the various plaintiffs — led by Universal Music Group and Sony Music Entertainment — and the Internet Archive “have settled this matter.” Terms of the settlement are still “pending,” and once they’re hashed out, both sides will file a stipulation to dismiss the case. That is expected to arrive within 45 days.  A post on the Internet Archive’s blog read only: “The parties have reached a confidential resolution of all claims and will have no further public comment on this matter.” A lawyer for the plaintiffs declined to comment. The Recording Industry Association of America said, “The parties have reached a confidential resolution of all claims and will have no further public comment on this matter.” The focus of the lawsuit was the Internet Archive’s Great 78 Project, which officially started in 2017 and aimed to digitize the shellac discs that were the dominant medium for recorded music from the 1890s until the 1940s and 1950s when vinyl arrived. With the help of audio preservationist George Blood (who was also named as a defendant in the suit), the Archive said it has digitized more than 400,000 of these old recordings…”