(Image courtesy of MacRumors)
Likely confident that its iTunes music business is secure in the U.S., Apple has now hired a former digital legal affairs executive from Warner Music Group to head up the company’s iTunes and MobileMe services in Europe.
MacRumors is reporting that Apple has hired Elliott Peters, a senior vice president and head of digital legal affairs with the Warner Music Group, to oversee Cupertino’s digital initiative in Europe. According to a Billboard report, Peters will become the head of the legal team overseeing iTunes and MobileMe services in Europe.
“Peters is taking on the role of corporate attorney director for iTunes Europe and Internet services, based in Luxembourg, where he will manage the European legal team for iTunes and MobileMe services,” the Billboard report notes, citing an internal memo they received.
Peters has been with Warner Music Group since 2000, and according to the memo obtained by Billboard, the executive has “had a hand in almost every major WMG digital deal” since he was appointed as the company’s first digital lawyer in 2003.
The new Apple hire would appear to be another piece of the digital puzzle being put in place as the company continues to move toward a cloud-based version of iTunes, which is widely believed to someday soon allow users to store their music libraries on Apple’s servers and be able to easily stream them to any number of Internet-connected devices.
Industry insiders have reported that the plans have met with resistance from major music labels, who argue that “such a use is not permitted under current licensing deals” and pushing for additional compensation from Cupertino for iTunes Store sales.
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