The Long and Winding Road to iTunes

Though iTunes is a relatively recent development in the Apple world (it was introduced in early 2001), the battle between the Apple computer company and Apple Corps, the multimedia corporation founded by the Beatles in 1968, has been going on since 1978. The long–standing war had nothing to do with who owned rights to the Beatles’ songs, it was, in fact, a simple name dispute.

In 1978, Apple Corps filed a lawsuit against Apple, Incorporated for trademark infringement. The suit was settled over $80,000 paid to Apple Corps, on the agreement that Apple, Inc. would never go into the music business and Apple Corps would never enter the computer business. Just eight years later, Apple, Inc. added audio abilities to its computers, leading to another lawsuit in 1989 by Apple Corps, which claimed that Apple, Inc. violated the 1981 settlement. In 1991, a $25.6 million settlement was paid to Apple Corps on the terms that Apple Corps had the right to use the Apple name on any “creative works whose principal content is music,” while Apple, Inc. got the rights to use the name on hardware or programs that could play music, but not the content itself.

In 2003, Apple Corps sued Apple, Inc. again for breach of contract, as Apple, Inc. used the Apple logo in conjunction with the iTunes Music Store. This time, the judge ruled in favor of Apple, Inc. Apple Corps disagreed with the decision but was forced to pay the computer company over $3 million to cover its legal fees.

In 2007, relations between the two companies seemed to defrost a little bit, hinted at in the Macworld conference in January of that year. The Beatles and their music were featured heavily in Apple, Inc. CEO Steve Jobs’s keynote presentation. Rumors spread about the Beatles soon being added to the iTunes store. On February 5, 2007, Apple, Inc. and Apple Corps announced somewhat of a truce: Apple, Inc. would own the Apple trademarks (for the pretty price of $500 million), while licensing some of those trademarks to Apple Corps. Throughout 2007, Apple, Inc. made more veiled Beatles references in its presentations. The solo work of each Beatle was allowed into the iTunes catalog, but still none of the Beatles’ work was included, despite Paul McCartney being quoted saying that it would be available in early 2008. In September of 2009, the entire remastered versions of the Beatles’ albums were released on CD, which many believed further paved the way for an online release.

Finally, on November 16, 2010, seventeen official Beatles albums were made available for purchase in the iTunes store, where they stand now. They’re exclusively available in their digital format from iTunes (for the next year, at least). In the 24 hours before the release, a splash page on Apple’s website said, “Tomorrow is just another day. That you’ll never forget.” On the day of the release, as well as several days after, the home page of Apple, Inc.’s website was simply a black and white picture of the Fab Four. Since that day, commercials have been touting “The band that changed everything,” as being in the iTunes Music Store. Steve Jobs said, “We love the Beatles and are honored and thrilled to welcome them to iTunes. It has been a long and winding road to get here. Thanks to the Beatles and EMI [Electric & Musical Industries Ltd], we are now realizing a dream we’ve had since we launched iTunes ten years ago.” This acquisition by Apple, Inc. cements the corporation’s overwhelming buying power. With this new addition, it is clear that Apple, Inc. is only going up.