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Beatles Battle EMI For Lost Royalties

When you’re history’s greatest rock band, like the Beatles, there’s a lot of legal haggling to deal with — like when Nike uses one of your songs without permission or Apple Computer tries to appropriate your record label’s fruity image. Now the Beatles are entangled in yet another legal matter: They’re suing Capitol and its parent company, EMI, for over $52 million in unpaid royalties. The Beatles’ record company, Apple Corps, owns the rights to many Beatles’ recordings, but EMI and Capitol release the recordings under license. “We have tried to reach a settlement through good faith negotiations and regret that our efforts have been in vain,” Apple Corps said in a statement. “Despite very clear provision in our contracts, EMI persist in ignoring their obligations and duty to account fairly and with transparency. Apple and the Beatles are, once again, left with no choice but to sue EMI.” A spokesperson for EMI told Billboard.com that the issue was a difference in opinion over contractual interpretation. This December marked the 25th anniversary of John Lennon’s death.

The Beatles official site

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