COLUMBUS, Ohio, Dec. 29 (UPI) -- Sony has agreed to pay $4.25 million to consumers in 40 U.S. states after its music division put anti-copying software on music CDs without notifying consumers.

Sony BMG Music Entertainment's "hidden software" violated state laws and "put consumers' computers at risk," Ohio Attorney General Jim Petro said on behalf of the 40 states.

Sony will give refunds of up to $175 to consumers whose computers were harmed when they sought to remove the anti-copying software, The Insurance Journal reported. Refund claims must be submitted through a claims process on Sony's Web site.

The states alleged Sony distributed more than 12 million CDs in 1995 with two kinds of anti-copying software. Consumers were not informed the CDs had the software.

One version, called XCP, hid a number of files. So consumers playing XCP CDs on computers running Windows operating systems unknowingly downloaded the anti-copying software.

Consumers complained this created vulnerabilities by exposing them to viruses and other security exploits.