by Catherine Bacon
December 5, 2000

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MP3.com (www.mp3.com) re-opened the My.MP3.com service on Tuesday, with the option of a free or subscription account. The My.MP3.com service, which allows customers to access its CD collection in digital format, was the focal point of a series of copyright infringement lawsuits against the company.

In November, $53.4 million was awarded to the Universal Music Group (UMG). At that time, UMG granted MP3.com, a non-exclusive, North American license for the use of UMG-controlled recordings on the My.MP3.com system. Universal was the last of the five major record labels that brought suit against MP3.com, to settle. MP3.com has licensing agreements with: Universal, Sony Music Group, Bertelsmann's BMG Entertainment, Warner Music Group and EMI Recorded Music, as well as with the National Music Publishers' Association.

Soon after the settlement with Universal, a group of minor record labels and artists brought suit against MP3.com.

The My.MP3 service, which was shut down in May, is now being offered at two pricing levels. The basic free account is advertising-driven and allows the user to store up to 25 CDs. The subscription account is available for an annual fee of $49.95, and allows for storage of up to 500 CDs with more functionality and less advertising.

MP3.com states that only content contained in MP3.com's licensed catalog will be available for use in a My.MP3 account.