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Latest Battle Over Digital Media Copyrights

Hollywood Reporter tells the story of the battle between the record companies and broadcasters over digital radio rights may have taken a turn as senior representatives of the two industries actually are talking with each other.

While last Thursday's parlay ended only in an agreement to keep talking, at least RIAA chief Mitch Bainwol and National Association of Broadcasters leader David Rehr are talking face-to-face. It wasn't as if they were willing participants. Although both sides said they wanted to talk, it took the nudging of Senator Dan Inouye, D-Hawaii, to get the talks started.

Several weeks ago Inouye told the two sides to get together and send him a status report every three weeks. "Both the broadcast and music industries are committed to finding a balance that achieves both protection for copyrighted works and a robust expansion of digital audio broadcasts."

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