Publishers Sue Seagram Over Songs on Net

Seagram Co.’s record label has been sued for disseminating songs over the Internet by songwriters and music publishers who claim the rights to hits such as “White Christmas” and “Jailhouse Rock.” The plaintiffs--including Elvis Presley Music and Paul McCartney’s MPL Communications Inc.--say Seagram’s UMG Recordings infringed the copyrights to hundreds of the world’s most popular songs. The complaint, filed in federal court in New York, comes three weeks after UMG won a $53.4-million infringement case against another online music distributor, MP3.com, for transmitting songs over the Internet. The lawsuit targets UMG’s new subsidiary, the Farm Club Online Inc., which allows Internet users to listen to more than 25,000 songs online.