The major record labels have agreed to pay $45 million to settle claims they failed to pay songwriters and music publishers while including their works on compilation albums. Warner Music, EMI, Universal Music and Sony BMG were sued in 2008 in a class action by Canadian songwriters and music publishers.

Generally, labels had established a practice of including songs on compilations for which they had not yet secured proper rights, placing them on a "pending list" for later payment.

TorrentFreak noted that the pending list for unpaid tracks had reached 300,000 just in Canada.

In addition to the $45 million to be paid by the labels to artists, the proposed settlement "also establishes a new mechanism that will expedite future payments of mechanical royalties to music rights holders."

"This agreement with the four major labels resolves all outstanding pending list claims," said David Basskin, president and CEO the Canadian Musical Reproduction Rights Agency (CMRRA).

The Obama administration is exploring ways to boost tax incentives for corporate investment in the United States, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Wednesday, ahead of his meeting with chief financial officers from some of America's biggest companies.

"We're examining whether we can find political support for a comprehensive tax reform -- revenue neutral -- but that would improve incentives for investing in the United States," Geithner said in comments after a speech at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies.

Geithner is expected to meet with CFOs of major U.S. companies including Microsoft Corp and Cisco Systems on Friday to hash out ideas for simplifying and trimming the corporate tax -- nearly the highest in the industrialized world.

Corporate tax reform is the starting place for a conversation about broader tax reform, administration officials have said. However, a divided Congress will make it difficult to pass any meaningful reform over the next two years.

Several White House officials have said they agree with companies' main gripe that the federal corporate tax rate -- topping out at 35 percent -- is too steep. Both sides also say the tax code is way too voluminous and cumbersome.

A new foundation, Investor Claims against Fortis, has started legal proceedings in the Netherlands against the former bancassurer Fortis for "misleading investors", which it claims led to combined losses of €2bn.

The organisation argues that Fortis persisted in persuading investors to invest between May 2007 and October 2008 when the company was already on the ropes.

One of the foundation's claims is that Fortis failed to supply timely, accurate information about its exposure to sub-prime mortgages in the US.

The legal case – brought for the Utrecht court in the Netherlands – comes after the US high court decided that a class action by "foreign investors who have bought a stake in foreign companies on foreign stock markets" was inadmissible in a US court.

Within the EU, the legal climate in the Netherlands is ideal for shareholders wishing to reclaim damages from listed companies, according to Jay Eisenhofer, partner at law firm Grant & Eisenhofer.

Stuart Berman of law firm Barroway Topaz added: "This case offers a valuable framework for compensating duped investors outside the US."

Both law firms, as well as Alexander Reus, the foundation's director, have represented international shareholders against Shell for providing incorrect information about its oil reserves.

After Fortis became one of the three players that took over Dutch bank ABN Amro, it had to be rescued by the national governments of the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.

A coalition of environmental and Native American groups on Monday sued the California Department of Fish and Game over permits issued to build 21,000 homes on Los Angeles County's last major tract of undeveloped land.

The coalition, which filed the suit in San Francisco County Superior Court, alleges that fish and game officials violated state environmental codes in granting permits Dec. 3 for the controversial Newhall Ranch development.

"It is appalling that the Department of Fish and Game, the trustee for all of California's wildlife, approved ecological destruction on this scale," said John Buse, a senior attorney for the Center for Biological Diversity, one of the plaintiffs. "Far less damaging options were available, but the department brushed them aside."

Fish and Game spokesman Andrew Hughan said he could not comment because the department has not yet seen the lawsuit, but in an earlier statement department officials said the approved plan will preserve 70 percent of the nearly 14,000-acre area as natural open space.

That space includes preserves to protect 76 percent of the rare San Fernando Valley spineflower and 93 percent of the Santa Clara River corridor.

Developers must also establish a $6 million endowment for preservation efforts.

"Hundreds of people, including biologists, botanists, hydrologists and other scientists, worked together to shape this biologically innovative project, and the end result ensures the protection of this site's unique natural resources," said Ed Pert, South Coast regional manager.

U.S. stocks edged lower Tuesday, as grocers weighed on the market in the wake of a broad downgrade, but an unexpected rise in factory orders kept the losses in check.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average recently shed 7 points, or 0.1%, to 11664, one day after closing at a 28-month high.

The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.4% to 2680. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index lost 0.3% to 1268.

Traders said the market's moves will likely be modest until 2 p.m. EST, when the U.S. Federal Reserve releases the minutes from its latest meeting.

Investors are very focused on the macro-economic environment right now, said Russell Croft, co-manager of the Croft Value Fund.

"A lot of strategists and chief investment officers out there seem pretty positive for the stock market this year," he said. But "it's one thing to say you're bullish and it's another to see people act on it," he said.

Food retailers in the S&P 500 fell Tuesday after Bank of Montreal downgraded Safeway, Vitamin Shoppe, and Whole Foods to marketperform from outperform, noting limited upside. Shares of Safeway fell 3.9%, Vitamin Shoppe was off 4.9% and Whole Foods shed 3.3%. BMO also reduced its estimates for Supervalu, noting the chain's inability to drive traffic, and Kroger, saying the fiscal year 2011 consensus could be too high given the challenging environment. Supervalu tumbled 8.5%, while Kroger lost 2%.

Morgan Stanley also cut Safeway and Supervalu to underweight from equalweight, noting Supervalu's strategy to reduce prices will collide with inflationary food costs.

However, the market pared steeper earlier declines after the Commerce Department reported that U.S. factory goods orders unexpectedly rose 0.7% in November. Economists surveyed by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast a 0.1% decline.

The telecommunications sector also gained, as shares of Motorola Mobility Holdings rose 7.8% and Motorola Solutions gained 0.2% as Motorola's long-awaited split into two entities officially took place Tuesday. Motorola Mobility consists of the company's consumer-focused smartphone and set-top box business, while Motorola Solutions focuses on handheld communication devices and public-safety radios.

The dollar strengthened against both the euro and the yen. The euro reversed earlier gains to trade recently at $1.3308, down from $1.3351 late Monday in New York.

The U.S. dollar index, which tracks the currency against a basket of others, rose 0.4%. Crude-oil prices slipped, while gold futures declined. Demand for U.S. Treasurys increased, pushing yield on the 10-year note down to 3.32%.

Among stocks in focus, U.S.-listed shares of BP rose 1.9%, touching a six-month high following reports that compensation payouts for the Gulf oil spill may be much lower than expected and lingering rumors that the company is a takeover target.

Borders Group plunged 9.4% after the book retailer's Counsel Thomas Carney and Chief Information Officer D. Scott Laverty resigned. On Tuesday, a unit of closely held Ingram Industries said it would continue to supply books to Borders despite the chain's difficult financial situation.

Drugstore chain Rite Aid gained 2.4% after its same-store sales rose 0.6% from a year earlier in December, exceeding analysts' expectations and marking the first monthly growth since May 2009.