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Beatles pirate prosecuted, still no sign of legal digi-releases

Writer: Julia Reidy
News, Published online on 27 Feb 2008

In an age when many artists (even ones we never talk about) have begun to release music solely through digital outlets, and almost all release digital versions of their recordings in addition to CDs and vinyl, The Beatles remain the highest profile group to not have any of their work available digitally. A search on iTunes reveals various tribute acts or collaborations in the "artist" column. None of the real stuff—any of their 13 actual LPs, dozens of compilations, plentiful box sets, a live recording or two—can be purchased this way. Even the official Beatles online store, Beatles.FanFire.com, only offers opportunities to order the CD online for delivery.

Fans, craving digitally-acquired music, and understandably used to immediate download gratification ("Same day shipping??! But that could take DAYS!"), have taken the matter into their own hands, obtaining the recordings through less-than-legal means like P2P sharing and BitTorrent file swapping.

Unfortunately for the larger operations that facilitate the unauthorized conversion of copyrighted files into MP3s, Beatles song trading doesn't go unpunished. A man who owned a website in Brazil that sold pirated versions of Beatles tracks was recently sentenced to 18 months in prison, according to the IFPI. The organization's Brazilian Anti-Piracy Unit spent five months investigating the site, which was offering MP3 compilations for the equivalent of about $7.

One of classic rock's other final holdouts, Led Zeppelin (who will not be performing at Bonnaroo), made its catalogue available digitally in November. What's more, Paul McCartney's June solo album Memory Almost Full was his first to release physically and digitally.Talks of the Fab Four's works following suit have been going on for at least a couple of years, but no product has emerged from the flying rumors yet, due in part to the now-resolved trademark argument between Apple Inc. (of iTunes, iPod, iEverythingElse...) and Beatles label Apple Corps.

The resolution, made a year ago, means the digital releases will find their way to your iTunes and several other digital retailers soon. But "soon" is the most we can give you for now, as Neil Aspinal, the head of Apple Corps., told Fox News last February that the tracks are being remastered, and that they'll be released online after that. Probably all at the same time. At some point.

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Beatles pirate prosecuted, still no sign of legal digi-releases

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