Online CD seller in industry deal

The BPI said selling CDs bought from outside Europe violates UK law

The UK record industry has reached an out-of-court settlement with Play.com, an online music seller.

The British Phonographic Industry (BPI) said it had agreed a deal with the online retailer that stopped it selling CDs sourced from outside of Europe.

In a similar case last month involving UK copyright law, the BPI settled with internet music retailer CD-Wow!

That forced CD-Wow! to raise its prices by £2 per disc, although the BPI said it had since reinstated its old prices.

No one at Jersey-based Play was immediately available for comment.

In a statement issued on Monday, the BPI said the sale of so-called parallel imports - CDs not sourced in Europe - was hitting the industry.

The CD-Wow! settlement took place last month

BPI chairman Peter Jamieson said: "All British-based record companies and all retailers - offline or online - are adversely affected when product specifically designated for markets outside of Europe flows back into the UK.

"It is impossible to invest in, develop and market new British talent if we do not protect our legal rights to prevent parallel importing."

The BPI began legal proceedings in December.

It said Play's CDs had been cleared for sale outside Europe only, and the company was contravening UK copyright law.

The BPI is also investigating online retailer Amazon to see whether it is importing CDs from outside Europe.