 The Beatles want to use Apple.. | |
The Beatles record label, Apple, and the Californian computer giant of the same name began a battle yesterday to tap into the riches of downloading music through the internet.
In the latest of a series of legal disputes dating back to the 1970s, lawyers for both companies traded the first blows at the High Court in London over who had the right to exploit the Apple brand online.
When lawyers from both sides thrashed out their last agreement in 1991, they failed to envisage the move to online music.
For Apple Computer, founded in San Francisco in 1976, a victory would hand them an enormous commercial advantage. Their online iTunes music service accounted for 70pc of legal downloads in the US last year, in contrast to Apple's dwindling share of the computer market.
However, the Apple record label - which issued the writ on behalf of owners Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison - insist that previous agreements mean it has rightful use of the Apple brand in anything related to music. | 
