It’s been a long and winding road to the latest development that led to the current revolution at Apple Corporation, the recording label owned by the four Beatles and/or their surviving estates.
Apple Computer was given permission by the Beatles’ recording company to use their trademarked “Apple” name at the request of Steve Jobs back in 1981. But all things must pass as the cordial relationship turned into a series of lawsuits that popped up here, there and everywhere for various infringement issues.
The latest development, one that I read about just yesterday, involves Apple Computer selling downloaded songs for 99 cents each. So far, more than 10 million downloaded songs have been sold, resulting in a pretty penny lane indeed.
However, according to the lawsuit filed by Sir Paul and company, the previous agreements included provisions that Apple Computer would not enter the music business. I’m sure there were no words of love in the legal documents filed in London, England, but rather she said she said wording.
In my life, I’ve never seen such an obvious infringement. It looks as though someone at Apple Computer is a bad boy and might find himself working eight days a week to get his company back to the days of golden slumbers with the fab four.
I don’t want to spoil the party, but tell me why Apple Computer thinks that they can do this? They may think that they can do something to get back lost revenue, but this is just too much monkey business. My guess is that Apple Computer will eventually be found the fool on the hill, and Apple Corporation will take Maxwell’s silver hammer to all their Apple computers.
Steve Jobs is probably saying, I should have known better. But he will probably make a call or two and say that we can work it out if we just come together and let it be. Needless to say, Apple Computer will need a lot of help with this one. Oh well, such is a day in the life of big business.
The end.
