Court temporarily blocks sites from selling Beatles songs

LOS ANGELES (AP) - A federal judge has blocked two music-sharing sites from selling digital downloads of Beatles songs.

By: Margie Szaroleta Associated Press Writer | WNCT-On Your Side
Published: November 09, 2009

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LOS ANGELES (AP) - A federal judge has blocked two music-sharing sites from selling digital downloads of Beatles songs. U.S. District Judge John F. Walter temporarily blocked the sites BlueBeat.com and BaseBeat.com and owner Hank Risan from selling copyrighted songs by The Beatles, The Beach Boys and Coldplay, among others. The Beatles' record label, EMI, says BlueBeat and Basebeat were offering the digital remasters of Beatles songs that came out last month for just 25 cents per song. The Beatles have never offered digital singles. Risan's attorney says the sites are selling altered versions of the songs. Risan told the Recording Industry Association of America earlier this month he was selling "psycho-acoustic simulation" of songs, not the originals. He calls them "my synthetic creation of that series of sounds which best expresses the way I believe a particular melody should be heard as a live performance."