New York - April 24, 2006. EMI Music Publishing has today announced a precedent setting deal with the global internet communications company Skype - the Internet telephony (VoIP) network.

The deal is the first of its kind, licensing the use of song copyrights from the EMI Music Publishing catalogue for downloading, subscription and mastertone use, lawfully on a worldwide basis for Skype’s soon to be launched online retail store. Previously licenses had to be applied for on a territory by territory basis, leading to difficulty tracking and collecting payments for the songwriter, creating greater opportunity for illegal downloading. As another step forward in the world-wide fight to build a legitimate market for music this deal should be welcome news for music users and music creators alike.

Original recordings have long been available for license on a worldwide basis, but were hampered by the requirement for licenses of the underlying song copyright to be applied for separately for each country. The Warner Bros group of record labels recently struck a deal with Skype for rights to use their master recordings and the two deals in tandem will make EMI MP represented songs by global stars such as Sean Paul and Rob Thomas available world-wide in Skype’s online music store. This is the first deal struck where a music user can license a song across borders to enable a one stop license for these uses globally, without the need to seek individual licenses from each country of operation.

It opens up an important new channel for the delivery of music in the ever-expanding digital area. The deal embraces downloads, mastertones and subscriptions for the company's extensive Anglo/American repertoire and will also result in EMI Music Publishing becoming a music consultant in this brand new service.

Commenting on the deal, Roger Faxon Co-CEO of EMI Music Publishing said: “It has been a great pleasure for us at EMI MP to be working with Skype to bring a range of innovative services to consumers across the globe. I would like to single out Mike McGinley of Skype and Clark Miller of EMI MP whose ability to look beyond the restrictions of current deal models made this groundbreaking initiative possible. I would be remiss if I did not also thank the MCPS/PRS Alliance in the UK for the cooperative spirit that they have brought to the development of this new approach to the licensing of music. We could not have better partners than Skype and MCPS/PRS in our ongoing effort to break down the barriers of online licensing of music. EMI MP is committed to bringing the best music in the world to all the consumers of the world and this deal is a major step in fulfilling that goal. ”

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About EMI Music Publishing

EMI Music Publishing is the world's largest and most creative music publisher with more than one million copyrights including some of the best known songs ever written : "New York, New York", "Over The Rainbow" and "Singin' In The Rain". Its current hit-making writers and producers include: Usher, Jermaine Dupri, Jay-Z, James Blunt and Pink.

About Skype

Skype is the world’s fastest-growing Internet communication offering, allowing people everywhere to make unlimited voice and video communication for free between the users of Skype software. Skype is available in 27 languages and is used in almost every country around the world. Skype generates revenue through its premium offerings such as making and receiving calls to and from landline and mobile phones, as well as voicemail and call forwarding. Skype also has relationships with a growing network of hardware and software providers. Skype is an eBay company (NASDAQ: EBAY).