ASCAP, the world's largest music performing rights organization, and Online Monitoring Services, the leader in intellectual property monitoring for the Internet, have announced a new partnership to offer a software technology called EZ-Seeker(TM) that will revolutionize the licensing and tracking of music performances on the Internet.

EZ-Seeker(TM) leapfrogs all Internet licensing and tracking technologies currently in use by any American performing rights organization. In addition to identifying specific song titles of works performed on the Internet, EZ- Seeker(TM) employs a proprietary set of Web crawlers to locate Internet sites using commonly available audio and video file formats. It then qualifies those prospects by making use of a series of intelligent agents, automatically issues license forms where appropriate, and finally tracks compliance with license requirements.

EZ-Seeker(TM) also has the ability to decode various watermarks that may be employed by record labels, music producers and distributors to identify their works. "EZ-Seeker(TM) is a one-stop solution for taming the Wild West of music use on the Internet," said John LoFrumento, ASCAP's Chief Executive Officer. "In one cutting-edge detection and follow-up technology, ASCAP and OMS have ensured that copyright owners receive their fair share for music performances online."

ASCAP was the first performing rights society, in 1997, to distribute licensing revenues from the Internet. The 75,000-member organization issued a second distribution in June and will make additional distributions later this year. Under ASCAP's Internet license, Web site operators can select from three variable rate schedules, depending on their business model. ASCAP offers an online RateCalc(TM) on its Web site to help Web operators calculate which rate schedule is best for them. The annual license fee can be as low as $250.

http://www.ascap.com/http://www.omservices.com

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