Beatles go on sale online

Music service hopes EMI and others won't mind

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3 November 2009 2:20 GMT / By Stuart Miles

The Beatles' entire back catalogue has found itself online for streaming and downloads semi-legally thanks to music service BlueBeat Music.

The site, which will no doubt be pulled within hours is currently offering Beatles fans the chance to own songs for just a quarter (15p) as well as the chance to stream the tracks for free.

Although many expected Apple to be the first to offer the Beatles back catalogue digitally online, BlueBeat Music's approach has been to hope that rights holder EMI won't complain.

Buried deep in terms and conditions is the following:

"If you believe in good faith that materials hosted by BlueBeat infringe your copyright (for example, materials posted by BlueBeat on one of our Forums), you (or your agent) may send us a notice requesting that the material be removed, or access to it blocked".

According to The Telegraph, EMI told the newspaper that "the company had not given its permission for the tracks to be sold and was "looking into the situation".

EMI has been rumoured to be waiting for the right time to offer the songs digitally, with many speculating, wrongly, that it would have happened in September, the same days as Rock Band: The Beatles launched.

In 2014, the copyright for the first Beatles tracks begin to expire, suggesting an ever looming window for EMI and Apple Corps to maximise on sales is drawing closer.

UPDATE: EMI has confirmed that it's sueing BlueBeat over these tracks.

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