Demand Challenged: Five major music companies Thursday...

Demand Challenged: Five major music companies Thursday told a federal judge that the Justice Department lacks authority to demand information about their overseas activities as part of an inquiry into the possibility of price fixing for music video licenses. Time Warner Inc., Sony Corp. of America, EMI Music Inc., Bertelsmann Inc. and PolyGram Holding Inc. have refused for more than two years to turn over documents sought by government antitrust investigators. Thursday’s hearing before U.S. District Judge Harold H. Greene in Washington could finally lead to a resolution of the dispute. No charges have been filed so far, and prosecutors have said it can’t go forward unless they get more information from the companies.

Channel Debut Postponed: Warner Bros., a unit of Time Warner Inc., said the European debut of its TV channel has been delayed by unspecified problems with British Sky Broadcasting Group’s network in Britain. The service, which Warner said is a family entertainment channel, was due to start today over BSkyB’s British satellite network, which is 40% owned by News Corp. Analysts said the problem is likely to be related to Time Warner’s refusal to carry Fox Television’s all-news channel on its cable system in New York. Fox Television is owned by News Corp.