The Beatles Back Catalog Removed From BlueBeat

An American-based Web site caused controversy when it started selling the whole of The Beatles back catalog last week. BlueBeat allowed free streaming of all the tracks and albums and sold all the tracks and albums for a pittance of what they’d actually be worth through iTunes or a similar service.

The real kicker of course is that The Beatles through Apple Corps, and EMI, which owns the recordings, have never agreed to sell any of the band’s tracks online. The nearest they’ve come is licensing the tracks for use in The Beatles: Rock Band.

EMI became aware the site was selling the songs earlier this week and issued legal action to put a stop to it. BBC News is now reporting that a Los Angeles judge has issued an injunction against the site, with arguments from both sides to be heard in court on Nov. 20.

Bizarrely, Bluebeat’s owner Hank Risan claims he doesn’t need a license to sell the tracks as they aren’t actually the original recordings. Instead, they are re-recorded versions of the songs using “psycho-acoustic simulation.” Whatever that may be.

While it’s true that tribute bands recording songs by other artists would be fine, these tracks sound like the originals, so I’m slightly confused where Risan is coming from. I’m guessing this will run for a while but hopefully it’ll focus everyone’s attentions and mean the actual original recordings get licensed for sale online.

[Photo Source: Newscom]