October 30, 2001
Sonera zed U.S., Inc. Enters Into Licensing Agreement With the American Society of Composers, Authors & Publishers (ASCAP) and Urges Industry Compliance With U.S. Copyright Laws and Public Performance Licensing
International mobile services company, Sonera zed U.S., Inc., announced it has expanded its existing licensed ringtones offering by partnering with the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP), the world's largest music performing rights organization.
The agreement with ASCAP authorizes zed to publicly perform, by way of mobile ringtones, any of the more than seven million copyrighted works in the ASCAP repertory. Fees paid to ASCAP are distributed in the form of royalties to those ASCAP writer and publisher members whose works are featured in zed's ringtones.
Commenting on the agreement, Chris Amenita, Senior Vice President of New Media & Technology at ASCAP said, "This license agreement underscores zed's commitment to obtaining the proper authorization to use copyrighted material and ASCAP's ongoing mission to license and protect the rights of its members' musical works, especially in new mediums such as mobile phone ringtones."
As zed chooses and digitizes its collection of high quality and entertaining ringtones, it collaborates with performing rights organizations like ASCAP to ensure that all ringtones are in full compliance of the license agreement and accounted for.
"Since the launch of our commercial services in the U.S., we have taken the extra steps necessary to license our ringtones because we believe in protecting the rights of music creators, and we know this is necessary for product longevity and success. We encourage other ringtone providers to do the same," said Paul Hughes, COO of Sonera zed, U.S. "Our audience enjoys expressing themselves through music and we enjoy creating a fun and legally sustainable channel for them to do so."
Zed's extensive collection of high-quality, licensed ringtones includes the latest pop, alternative, hip-hop, rap and other popular music songs and is delivered to their audience's mobile phones for under a dollar.
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