Bluebeat.com is currently being sued by record label EMI, alleging that the website was selling unauthorized downloads of Beatles tracks. A spokesman for EMI says that the site was never given permission to sell the content. In turn, the label filed a copyright infringement suit on Monday. Bluebeat sells songs at literally a quarter of the typical price. Normally a song on iTunes would cost around $1.00 per song, whereas, on Bluebeat, songs only cost twenty-five cents per download.
Former Beatle, Paul McCartney, was thrilled at the prospect of finally making the band's catalog available for download on iTunes. However, negotiations stalled when EMI was reportedly asking for too much. Bluebeat has been making several albums available for download, including many remastered versions.
EMI may only be the beginning for Bluebeat, as the site also features many other artists on other labels as well.
