Sites selling Beatles songs blocked

Websites selling Beatles songs have been blocked

A US judge has temporarily blocked two music-sharing websites from selling songs by the Beatles and other artists for 25 cents each.

Los Angeles District Judge John Walter blocked the sites BlueBeat.com and Basebeat.com and owner Hank Risan from selling copyrighted songs by the Beatles and others.

Music company EMI Group filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday seeking an injunction against the sites, claiming they were engaging in music piracy.

EMI claims the websites have infringed on its copyrights to numerous artists' songs, including the Beach Boys, Coldplay and Lily Allen.

Its complaint states BlueBeat.com and Basebeat.com were offering the recently released digital remasters of the Beatles catalogue for 25 cents (15p) per song; the box set of 13 albums retails for 250 dollars (£150).

The Beatles songs have never been legally offered for sale online through sites such iTunes or other music sharing services. The website's attorney opposed EMI's injunction request, saying the sites are selling an altered version of the songs.

In an email earlier this month to the Recording Industry Association of America's general counsel, Risan described the songs as a "psycho-acoustic simulation" rather than the original, copyrighted works.

Asked to explain the concept, Risan replied, "Psycho-acoustic simulations are my synthetic creation of that series of sounds which best expresses the way I believe a particular melody should be heard as a live performance."

The email exchange is included as part of Risan's filings opposing the restraining order.

Walter has scheduled a court hearing for November 20 on whether to keep the injunction in place. EMI is seeking a permanent injunction and a fine against Risan of up to £90,000 per song that was downloaded.