Beatles and Apple, what does the future hold?

News Type: Opinion — Fri Jan 19, 2007 9:00 PM EST

technology, music, apple, beatles, apple-computer, apple-cops

It is good to know that I am not the only one who noticed that Steve Jobs played a Beatles song and displayed two of their album covers. If you have been living under a rock basking in your negligence, then you do not know what I am talking about. Apple Corps is the firm that represents the Beatles music. Because Apple Corps shares the same name as Apple Computer (I know its just Apple now, just go with me) and were created in the 60s while Apple Computer was created in the late 70s, Apple corps sued Apple Computer when they started to hit the big time. This was settled in 1991 on the terms of Apple Computer paying Apple Corps and never entering the music business. In 2003 Apple Corps, now run by only one of the founding member's of The Beatles, sued Apple Computer again saying that iTunes broke their former agreement. The Judge ruled in Apple Computer's favor but it is believed that Apple Computer still played Apple Corps a substantial amount of money. Rumors have flown since that case about The Beatles, who are not on any legal digital music site, being in talk with Apple Computer about being on iTunes. Here are my reasons for agreeing with them:

*November, 2006: Fortunes publishes this story, saying Apple Computer has a deal with the Beatles to be only on iTunes.
*MacWorld 2007: Steve Jobs plays the Beatle's song "Lovely Rita" during his keynote. He also shows two other album covers from the Beatles. And to prove I am not the only one who saw this and started putting the facts together, check out this page and the Mac OS Ken episode for 01/10/06. Steve not only played Beatle's songs, but also changed the company's name to just Apple, inc. Sounds like a deal went down to me.

But does this mean Apple lawsuit troubles are over? Nope. Cisco released an Internet telephony device in December name iPhone. Apple just released plans for its iPhone. Supposedly Apple and Cisco were in talks and were planning on coming to an agreement on the day of the keynote. But Cisco stopped talking to Apple and is now suing. wow. I am glad I am not a corporation.

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{"commentId":485568,"authorDomain":"DrJuice"}

Dr Juice

Story I read was that Apple didn't submit required documents on time and now Cisco is suing, saying that Apple walked away and that Cisco wanted "interoperability" with Apple's iPhone (which I don't quite get).

However there has been some discussion that Cisco's trademark on "iPhone" may have expired or may be tenuous, at best. (Engadget: Cisco Might Have Lost iPhone Trademark in '06). Additionally Apple might be able to successfully argue that they should have the trademark because there's a strong brand association not only between the iPhone and Apple but pretty much any gadget that starts with a lower case "i" and Apple.

{"commentId":485568,"threadId":"69612","contentId":"528831","authorDomain":"DrJuice"}

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#1 - Sat Jan 20, 2007 2:45 PM EST

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Beatles and Apple, what does the future hold?

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