In a lawsuit over Bertelsmann's investment and involvement in Napster, two rulings may give the Justice Department a better case in its investigation into digital music pricing. The LA Times' Joseph Menn detailed the judge's findings in an article today. One ruling had to do with which documents would be turned over by two majors music groups:

"But the Justice Department's decision was influenced by two detailed 'white papers' — one submitted by EMI Group and MusicNet, the other by Universal Music Group and Pressplay. In a ruling made public Friday, U.S. District Judge Marilyn Hall Patel found that those papers were 'deliberately misleading.'"

The other dealt with Bertelsmann's $50 million loan to Napster and the revealing of an "unwritten deal allowing $10 million to be used for the legal defense of the old system." Bertelsmann did not disclose to the court that $10 million legal fund.

The Wall Street Journal quotes Bertelsmann's lawyer, Ken Steinthal, as saying, "There's no impact on the merit of the claims."

[music jobs] HR Manager at EMI NA; New York, NY.