Way back in 2002, Bertelsmann made a bid to purchase the peer-to-peer site Napster as it was teetering on bankruptcy. A U.S. court blocked the sale a few months later, forcing the site to be liquidated, but that didn’t stop a flurry of Napster-related legal action against Bertelsmann. Universal Music Group and a few music publishers sued the German conglomerate, but the longest holdout, as far as settling up goes, was EMI, which finally settled with Bertelsmann yesterday–four and a half years after the original Napster was liquidated. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed, but we’re guessing that EMI was probably thrilled that it had at least found one way to scrounge up some cash.

EMI, Bertelsmann Settle Age-Old Napster Spat [Digital Music News]