Website Fined Over Beatles Downloads

NME reports that the site had sold over 67,000 songs by the Beatles along with tracks by big acts such Coldplay for 25 cents each. The website was punished after record labels EMI, Capitol and Virgin sued owner Hank Risan.

Judge Josephine Tucker deemed that the site had breached copyright and was unfair competition, reports the BBC.

Risan had claimed that copyright had not been breached, saying he'd used a technique called "psycho-acoustic simulation" to make the tracks unique. This was rejected by the judge as the songs had originally been bought on CD.

BlueBeat's attorney Archie Robinson was defiant, though, and said that the settlement was a fraction of what music companies EMI Group PLC, Capitol Records and Virgin Records America had sought.

"I felt that was sort of an acknowledgement on their part that they don't have the damages they claimed," he said.

"So long as we pay royalties, we can stream their music all day and all night without a problem," he added.

BlueBeat.com is still active despite the fine.

(BBC)