exploremusic

You may have heard that a website called www.bluebeat.com started selling digital versions of Beatles tracks for 25 cents each—and you may have wondered if this was, in fact, legal.

The answer is no. Or probably no. Bluebeat has a sneaky (albeit shakey) legal defense. Basically, they say “we’re not selling Beatles songs. We’re selling re-recordings of Beatles songs. That means we own the copyright and we get to do what we want”. You gotta read about it.

Give ‘em credit. They’re ballsy about it. But now the judges and lawyers have waded in with lawsuits and injunctions. Good try, but duh.