EMI wins injunction against US website for selling Beatles tracks

London, Nov 7 : Brit music company EMI has won a temporary injunction against a US website for allegedly selling Beatles' tracks without permission.

The songs were pulled from the Internet after a copyright violation lawsuit was filed at a Los Angeles court on November 3, to prevent the sale of "unauthorised content" by Bluebeat.com, reports the Daily Star.

The website had allegedly offered the tracks for download at discounted prices even though the Fab Four's music is not licensed for Internet downloads.

Last year, Sir Paul McCartney announced he would like to see the band's songs available on Apple's iTunes store, but admitted negotiations had "stalled".

Executives at EMI, the company that owns the Beatles' recordings, need to agree a deal with the surviving bandmates and Apple Corps before the catalogue can be made available online.

Now Bluebeat.com has been banned from streaming or selling tracks by the band, as well as other EMI artists.

Website bosses claimed they were only selling re-recorded versions of the hits using a technology called "psycho-acoustic simulation", but the judge ruled they did not have enough evidence to support the argument.

The case will go back to court on November 20.

--ANI