Posted February 5, 200718 yr Last Updated: Monday, 5 February 2007, 15:41 GMT Deal ends Beatles' Apple battle BBC Entertainment News Technology giant Apple has reached a deal with the Beatles to end the dispute over the use of the Apple name. Apple Inc will now take full control of the Apple brand and license certain trademarks back to the Beatles' record company Apple Corps for continued use. The two companies have been wrangling over the use of the Apple name and logo for more than 25 years. The legal battle over the trademark will now end. Apple Inc boss Steve Jobs said the court dispute had been "painful". The Beatles' songs are still not available on any legal download service, but this truce could pave the way for their anticipated appearance on the iTunes download store. Mr Jobs said: "We love the Beatles and it has been painful being at odds with them over these trademarks. "It feels great to resolve this in a positive manner, and in a way that should remove the potential of further disagreements in the future." Apple Corps manager Neil Aspinall added: "It is great to put this dispute behind us and move on. The years ahead are going to be very exciting times for us. "We wish Apple Inc every success and look forward to many years of peaceful co-operation with them." The dispute dates back to 1980, when the late George Harrison noticed an advert for Apple computers in a magazine. He felt there was potential for trademark conflict with Apple Corps - set up by The Beatles in 1968 to release their songs and manage their creative affairs. Court clashes The sides reached a deal in 1981 allowing Apple Computer to use the name as long as it stuck to computers, while The Beatles' company would continue in the entertainment field. But as computers developed and their musical capabilities grew, the sides ended up in court in 1989, resulting in a new deal. They clashed again when Apple Inc launched the iTunes download store in 2003, with the record label claiming the computer firm had encroached on its territory again. That case ended up in court last year. Apple Corps lost, with a judge ruling that the iPod and iTunes did not breach their deal because they were merely ways of conveying music and nothing to do with the creation of the music itself. Any Comments?
February 5, 200718 yr Author Apple deal Beatles classics now set to go digital Reuters 05 Feb 07 - Computer giant Apple has finally settled its long-running trademark dispute with The Beatles' company, Apple Corps Ltd. The deal could now pave the way for the Fab Four's songs to be sold on the iTunes music store. The band are one of the few whose music has not been licenced for digital services. The two companies agreed that Apple Inc would own all the trademarks related to "Apple", and would license certain trademarks back to The Beatles' Apple Corps for continued use. "We love the Beatles, and it has been painful being at odds with them over these trademarks," Apple Chief Executive Steve Jobs said in a statement. Neil Aspinall, manager of Apple Corps, said it was great to put the dispute behind them and move on. Bookmakers William Hill are offering 10/1 that the Beatles will have all the top ten tracks in the official charts at some time in 2007, and make Hey Jude their 8/1 favourite to be the first Beatles number one of the digital era. "Beatlemania was at its height in the mid sixties, but making their songs available for download could spark a whole new outbreak," said spokesman Rupert Adams. A spokeswoman for EMI, the band's record label, declined to comment on whether there were any immediate plans for the Beatles' music to be sold online. The long-running dispute centred around a 1991 trademark agreement between the two sides regarding the use of their respective apple-shaped logos. The music firm had said that the computer company had violated the agreement by moving into the music business through its hugely popular iTunes online store which has sold over a billion downloads. In May 2006, a High Court judge in London sided with Apple Inc, which said iTunes was a data transmission service. Apple Corps - which is owned by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, John Lennon's widow Yoko Ono and the estate of George Harrison - had said it would appeal. But an agreement has now been reached. The trademark lawsuit between the two companies has now ended, with each party bearing its own legal costs.
February 5, 200718 yr The official chart will be full of Beatles songs when their back catalogue is put on.
Create an account or sign in to comment