• Universal Music Group CEO Doug Morris practically threw down the gauntlet in commenting about user-generated content sites such as MySpace and YouTube. Reuters obtained transcripts of the speech at a Merrill Lynch conference. "The poster child for (user-generated media) sites are MySpace and YouTube," he said. "We believe these new businesses are copyright infringers and owe us tens of millions of dollars." How UMG deals with the perceived problem, Morris said, will soon be revealed. I can't wait. (Yahoo! News)

• Gartner analyst Mike McGuire on Morris's comments: "This is probably a negotiating ploy. Nobody really wants MySpace or YouTube to disappear. The music industry needs them too badly. They're just figuring out how to get paid." Exactly. (LA Times)

• The Orchard has added four more labels to its roster. Dim Mak Records, Norton Records, CornerstoneRAS/Park The Van and Surfdog Records have chosen to company to handle their digital distribution and marketing. (Press Release)

• This just noticed: On page 42 of this court transcription dated August 22nd, a lawyer representing Tower's ten main vendors (and all the majors) testifies that according to their math Tower owes them over $82.7 million. (PDF of Court Transcript)

• Output Recordings (visit the hyperlink for the digital tombstone), owned by DJ/producer Trevor Jackson, has folded. (Pitchfork)

• The European Commission laid out its plans to overhaul copyrights and increase intellectual property rights. The aim is to spur innovation and ease the burden and confusion now placed on tech companies because of levies placed on their products. (Billboard.biz)