Apple may face largest settlement in legal history with Beatles

While the Apple iPod continues to do exceptionally
well with its iTunes service, their legal battle with Apple Corps. The Beatles
record label is getting very serious.  An agreement had been made back in
1991 that forbid Apple for becoming involved with music applications or the
music industry.  As the Apple computer maker developed the iTunes music
store and the iPod, both proving to be the world's most popular
online music download service and player respectively :p,
they obviously violated this agreement despite being in several previous court battles
that involved the use of the Apple trademark.

An out-of-court settlement is expected between both
Apple companies, but this will be many times larger than the $ 26.5m settlement
back in 1991 over a previous trademark use dispute.  If this settlement
goes ahead, it will likely be the largest out-of-court non-class action suit
settlement in legal history.

A UK London High Court Judge granted jurisdiction
to allow the case to be heard in the UK, thus Apple Computer Company could not
have its case heard in the US.  With this major legal battle, iTunes may never see any of
the Beatles tracks available for download as a result.  On the other
hand, if the settlement goes ahead, some estimate that Apple Corps. may become a
major sharesholder in the Apple Computer company.

The Beatles' company, Apple Corps., is involved in a legal battle with Jobs' Apple Computer, claiming the hardware manufacturer is in breach of a 1991 agreement that that forbids it from using the trademark for any application "whose principle content is music." The two companies have been involved in a number of court battles over the years involving the use of the Apple trademark. Word among the legal community is that an out of court settlement could be imminent and that it will massively dwarf the $ 26.5 million paid to the Fab Four's company in 1991 in a row over trademark use. One lawyer told Daily Variety, "People are expecting this to be the biggest settlement anywhere in legal history, outside of a class action suit. The numbers could be mind boggling." Earlier this year, the computer company failed in a bid to have the latest case heard in the United States, when a judge in London's High Court in London granted jurisdiction in the U.K. The litigation is seen as one of the main reasons behind Apple Corps. preventing the Beatles catalog of songs being made available on the computer company's iTunes song store. Read the full article here.

If the settlement ends up over 6 times the 1991 settlement, the Apple
Computer company would end up losing more than the total cost of all the songs
they sold via iTunes since their initial launch.  If the expected
settlement is this high, I wonder what the penalty could have been if the case
went through court.

Source: Yahoo Entertainment News