EMI Sue Over Beatles Download Row

Record label EMI is to sue American website BlueBeat after they offered The Beatles music for download without permission.

It is one of the more intriguing mysteries of the modern music industry. The Beatles are one of the biggest groups of all time, with their material shattering chart records around the world and helping to define pop music.

However the band's back catalogue is not available for sale online. Due to a three decade old dispute between The Beatles' record label Apple Corps and Apple Computers the group's music is not on iTunes.

With the Fab Four appearing on a special edition of the RockBand game, however, it seems to be a matter of time before the issue is resolved.

Which makes the actions of BlueBeat all the more intriguing. The website recently began offering The Beatles back catalogue as a download, with each track costing just 15 cents - much less than an ordinary download.

Now EMI, who own the band's back catalogue, have confirmed that they are taking legal action against the website. A report on Wired claims that the label have begun legal proceedings in a district court in California.

At this moment, however, the downloads are still being offered on the site.

Of course, The Beatles are set to release their entire back catalogue as mp3s - contained on a new Apple shaped USB stick. Alongside music fans will get a number of bonuses, with the release kept to a strictly limited edition.