The Beatles' record company Apple Corps, who own the right to the "Apple" name and logo, granted Apple Computer a licence to use its Apple Trade Mark in relation to computers in the early '90s after George Harrison spotted one of their advertisements and wondered whether the public would be confused between the two.

Apple Corps did a deal with Apple which prevented them entering into the Music Industry, and all was well until 2003, when iTunes was lunched on an unsuspecting public. An extremely bitter trade mark claim got underway, which eventually found Apple on the winning side on the basis that iTunes merely distributed music rather than creates it. Apple Corps were then set to appeal the judgment before Sir Paul McCartney brokered a deal which will now see the Beatles' songs sold via iTunes for the first time to the tune of a rumoured $400 Million.

Media Lawyer Steve Kuncewicz of leading Manchester Law Firm Ralli commented:

"This is a classic example of a legal issue being resolved in a commercial manner. Both sides clearly recognise that there is a vast amount of money to be made through selling the music of arguably the most popular and influential band of all time via iTunes, and after Led Zeppelin and Metallica (some of the other major hold-outs) finally reached agreements to make their back catalogues available on iTunes, it was only a matter of time.

No-one could have foreseen iTunes' popularity when it launched and I think that Sir Paul realises that selling the Beatles' music through iTunes will allow their music to reach a whole new audience. As far as the Beatles' appeal against the trade mark judgment is concerned it could have gone either way, but as a deal has now been reached, both sides stand to make a serious amount of money.

In any event, this will allow Sir Paul to severely curtail the need for his fans to download the Beatles' music illegally. Now that it's available for sale via iTunes, this may be the next dispute that the Beatles find themselves involved in."

For Paul McCartney and Apple at least, the long and winding road of litigation has come to an end.

Times on line

Richard Biggs, Solicitor at Ralli said "Although, it seems unlikely that the claimant will succeed in this case, at Ralli we will be keeping a very close eye on the court's findings. The duty of care owed by employers to employees, or land owners to visitors, are of course well established in personal injury law. However the notion that a duty of care could be owed in this way by a business to its customer is somewhat radical. If the claimant wins his case, we can expect a raft of litigation."