The Beatles Lose Apple Court Battle

The Beatles have lost their court battle against computer giant Apple over the companies download arm iTunes.

The court case had been brought by Ringo Starr, Sir Paul McCartney and the families of George Harrison and John Lennon alleging that Apple had gone back on a previous agreement with the bands label Apple Corps never to go into the music industry.

However, Justice Edward Mann this morning ruled that the company had not breach the agreement saying that they used the Apple logo in association with the store and not the music.

Apple Corps was set up by The Beatles in 1968 and has used the logo of a Granny Smith ever since, they had requested that the High Court order Apple to stop using their apple logo on iTunes and award them damages.

The two companies had agreed a deal in 1991 which gave the bands label exclusive rights to use the logo in the music industry.

A previous deal agreed in 1981 had allowed the two companies to share the Apple trademark but a court battle began in 1989 after Apple computers sought a less restrictive agreement.

It is thought that the computer giant paid The Beatles around £17m at the time.

Beatles songs are still not licensed for downloading despite the huge rise in its popularity.