The Beatles in court (again) with Apple

The Beatles record label, Apple Corps Ltd. was in court for the third time in as many decades with Apple Computer, Inc. this week. The record label claims that the Cupertino, CA computer firm has breached an agreement dating back to 1991 preventing it from entering the music business. In the 1980's Apple Corps Ltd. took Apple to court over the use of their logo.

The Apple Corps Ltd corporate logo (pictured) is comprised of a whole granny smith-type green apple whereas the computer maker uses a flat 2D logo of an Apple with a bite out of it.

In this latest go-around Apple Corps Ltd. has asked the court to stop the computer firm from using their logo on the iTunes Music Store. Lord Grabiner QC representing Apple Computer said "Apple Computer has been able to persuade every major content provider to distribute through the iTunes Music Store, but Apple Computer has not been able to persuade Apple Corps in relation to the Beatles catalogue" and called the record label's case "inherent nonsense."

During the development of System 7, Apple Corps' legal team objected to one of its system sound effects as being too musical. According to Wikipedia "The creator of the new beeps for System 7 and the Macintosh Startup Sound, Jim Reekes... first quipped it should be named "Let It Beep", a pun on The Beatles' "Let It Be", but renamed it Sosumi, which is pronounced "so sue me.""

The case in ongoing.