November 05, 2009

By By Antony Bruno, Denver

EMI Music has won an injunction against a small digital music retailer that has been selling digital downloads of the Beatles catalog at bargain prices.

According to a court order, the company?BlueBeat Inc.?must immediately stop selling not only the Beatles catalog, but any other EMI-licensed music. The temporary restraining order is effective immediately and is valid through the Nov. 20 court date set to hear arguments from both sides.

EMI filed suit against BlueBeat earlier this week when it became known that the company was selling the Beatles catalog, offering tracks as low as 25 cents each. Other major labels may follow suit. The service?s owner, Hank Risan, claims he doesn?t need to license the music as the service is using re-recorded versions of the songs using a technology called ?psycho-acoustic simulation? and obtained new copyrights as a result.

For a brief e-mail thread between RIAA General Counsel Steven Marks and Risan, see here.

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