A few weeks ago I mentioned that EMI Group, one of the big four record labels, was considering selling music without copying constraints. Today EMI, the fourth largest record label, has announced that consumers buying music from Apple's iTunes music store will be soon be able to download most songs from of its catalog without copying restrictions. In other words, there will be no limitations on how many times the songs can be copied, or to what type of devices.

EMI's catalog includes a number of the music industry's heavy hitters, including the Rolling Stones, Coldplay, Norah Jones, the Gorillaz, and Janet Jackson.

One artist's name was conspicuously absent from the online music deal: music by the Beatles will not be part of this arrangement. The surviving band members and their estates have not yet reached agreement to allow sale of their music through any online outlet, though rumors have been rife in the last few months that a deal was in the works to put the band's music online.

EMI and Apple made the announcement Monday, 4/2 in a move that would put pressure on other music labels to come forth with their own plan to release online music free of digital copyright management (DRM).

EMI also announced that it would sell "premium" editions of its songs that have higher sound quality.