tune

Who owns your downloaded music after you die?

Earlier today, a story emerged from the British tabloids that Bruce Willis was considering suing Apple in a bid to determine who gets his iTunes music collection after his death. Perhaps something more suited for April Fool's Day? We reported it (and fell for it) and we've updated the piece to reflect that the original source was a work of fiction. (Willis' wife tweeted this morning that the story was not true.)

But the one thing still not settled or answered from today's misreporting: what happens to downloaded content when the buyer passes away? (Spoiler alert: just … Read more

Bruce Willis not suing Apple over music inheritance rules

Reports of Bruce Willis' discontent over who will inherit his massive music collection when he dies have been greatly exaggerated.

The "Die Hard" actor, who has reportedly spent thousands of dollars on his iTunes music collection, was concerned that upon his demise, the rights to his music collection would pass back to Apple instead of to his children, according to a report in The Daily Mail. He was reportedly considering setting up trusts to act as legal "holders" of the music, as well as exploring the possibility of bringing a lawsuit against Apple to clarify the … Read more

Bruce Willis to take on Apple over iTunes inheritance [updated]

Updated 3:40 p.m ET.

Reports that veteran Hollywood actor Bruce Willis is reportedly looking to take on Apple in a bid to pass on his vast music collection to his children after his death have been disputed. The claims, which were originally reported by The Daily Mail have been debunked by Willis' wife via Twitter.

Emma Hemming has taken to Twitter to pour cold water on the claims made by British media earlier today that her husband Bruce Willis was considering legal action against Apple over the rights to his iTunes account after his death. She said in … Read more

Apple updates iTunes and app content dispute forms

iOS developer Brad Larson has tweeted a pointer to the new forms that developers and content producers can use to notify Apple of copyright claims related to applications or content. (Hat tip to Matthew Panzarino.

You can find the iTunes Content Dispute tool here:

If you believe that an application available in the App Store violates your intellectual property rights, you can use this form to submit a claim to the App Store Legal Team. If you are looking for the form to submit a claim for any other type of content available on the iTunes Store, please visit here. … Read more

The 404 1,119: Where we exit through the gift shop (podcast)

Leaked from today's 404 episode:

- Who inherits your iTunes library? Why your digimedia may go to the grave.

- Meet a group of journalists in L.A. who share a passion for listening to police scanners.

- Bic geniuses who unveiled pen made for women get roasted by Internet.

- Let us not forget that Apple and Samsung are in bed.… Read more

How to make iTunes sound better

Apple's iTunes software takes a lot of criticism from CNET readers. It's a gigantic memory hog of a program that attempts to do everything from downloading iBooks (e-books) to synchronizing apps with your iPad. For a piece of software named for its music playback capability, that feature seems to be a diminishing part of iTunes' appeal.

But groan all you want, iTunes is still one of the most popular ways to play music on your computer.

If you're one of the millions who get your daily music fix through Apple's ubiquitous software, here are a few … Read more

How to load up on apps for back-to-school season

The new school year can be hectic enough.

So I figured that I would round up some useful smartphone apps for students trying to survive their first few days back at school. While I assume this column will be read by college students starting a new semester or quarter, I can only imagine younger kids and parents can find some use in this as well.

Given the increase in smartphone use across all ages, I wouldn't be surprised. Fortunately, much of the advice applies to everyone.

Some of these may be obvious, but hopefully not all of them are. … Read more

Six tips for managing your iTunes library

About the time my iTunes music library reached 5,000 tracks I knew it was time for a cleanup. While I was at it, I adjusted the volume on some tracks that I had converted from audio cassettes, made sure joined tracks play in sequence, set iTunes to fill my iPod automatically, and learned some handy playback-control keyboard shortcuts.

Now I'm spending more time listening to the tracks in my iTunes library and less time skipping, scrolling, and searching.

The semi-automatic way to remove duplicate media files iTunes provides two options for identifying duplicate files: one based on the … Read more

Wal-Mart offers $100 iTunes gift card for $80

Looking for a gift for your favorite iTunes user, even if that's you? Here's a good deal from Wal-Mart.

The retail giant has shaved $20 off a $100 iTunes electronic gift card. For your $80 purchase, Wal-Mart sends you a PIN, which you can use on an iTunes spending spree or e-mail to someone else as a gift.

The PIN is usually delivered within a few minutes, according to the company, but could take as long as 48 hours, so be patient if you don't receive it right away.

The gift cards are not returnable or refundable, … Read more