Judge Orders BlueBeat to Stay Offline

Los Angeles - The operators of a Web site that allegedly sold Beatles music without permission are barred from resuming operations under a ruling handed down by a Los Angeles federal judge.

U.S. District Judge John F. Walter issued a temporary injunction to stop Santa Cruz-based BlueBeat.com from offering digital music by the Beatles and other artists for sale.

The Web site has been down since last weekend. However, the site's operator today pledged to return to business once a deal is worked out with the plaintiffs in the complaint.

The company was sued Nov. 3 by the record label EMI for alleged copyright infringement. BlueBeat had been marketing the entire Fab Four catalog for 25 cents per song, according to the complaint filed in U.S. District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

Beatles songs are absent from online music retailers like Apple's iTunes Store and Google's OneBox, because the band members and EMI never reached an agreement to license the music for digital download.

The lawsuit alleges the online retailer violated federal copyright law by offering the Beatles catalog, plus music from artists including Coldplay and Lily Allen, without permission.

Also named as defendants in the suit are Bluebeat's parent company, Media Rights Technology Inc., and Media Rights chief executive Hank Risan.

"We've been paying royalties to EMI from the beginning," Risan said today. "We assumed we had the right to do what we've been doing."

Risan said BlueBeat.com would return to service "shortly," as soon as a further agreement could be worked out with EMI.

Attorneys for the Web site argued in court filings that Risan wasn't actually posting the original material, but had re-recorded the music and inserted artistic touches based on a technique he pioneered called "psycho-acoustic simulation."

Along with sales, Bluebeat.com allowed users to stream music on its Web site for free.

A hearing in the case had been set for Friday, but Walter issued a written ruling late Wednesday based on pleadings by attorneys for Risan and the music label.