TECHNOLOGY & TELECOMMUNICATIONS

CompuServe Settles Music Publishers Suit: The on-line services company settled the lawsuit filed by music publishers that accused the company of copyright infringement involving more than 900 songs. The 1993 lawsuit alleged that CompuServe violated copyright laws because subscribers downloaded “Unchained Melody” and other recordings from CompuServe databases, the company said. It was filed by Frank Music Corp. and supported by Harry Fox Agency, a music publishers rights-licensing agency and subsidiary of the National Music Publishers Assn. The amount of the settlement, which must be approved by a federal judge, wasn’t disclosed. As part of the deal, CompuServe made no admission of liability and will make a payment to the Fox agency, which will be divided among the publishers. The settlement “may lead to a broad industry practice of licensing musical works utilized by on-line computer services,” said Edward P. Murphy, president of the publishers group.