“Music company EMI Group PLC — home of The Rolling Stones and Coldplay — has been talking with online retailers about possibly selling its entire digital music catalog in MP3 format without copy protection, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday, citing numerous people familiar with the matter.”

“Earlier this week, Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs called on record labels to abandon their requirement for online music to use DRM, which is designed to limit unauthorized copying. Jobs said such restrictions have done little to slow music piracy and eliminating them would open up the online music marketplace.

“One person familiar with the matter told the Journal that several major music companies have recently floated the idea of scrapping copy protections, but none appears to have gone as far as EMI, and some maintain that copy-protection software is critical to stop piracy.

“EMI is the world’s third-largest music company by sales and home to acts ranging from The Beatles to the Beastie Boys. But some of its performers — notably including The Beatles — do not yet sell their music in any digital form.”