A collection of 59 previously unreleased outtakes, demos and BBC sessions from The Beatles have been made available on the iTunes Store this afternoon in an effort to avoid a copyright loophole.
Current EU copyright law covers recordings for 70 years after they receive a release, but recordings which have not been officially made available expire after 50 years, putting the ownership of these Fab Four rarities in peril.
And the BBC reports fan screenshots showed a 2CD compilation being uploaded, and quickly removed, to stores in New Zealand, Australia, Russia and Saudi Arabia before the tracks were posted in the UK this afternoon. They will now, apparently, remain there ‘indefinitely’.
Many avid Beatles bootleggers will already be in possession of most – if not all – of the tracks, which include four alternate takes of the ‘She Loves You‘ single, two alternates of ‘From Me To You‘ and a handful of live recordings of one of The Beatles’ favourite early covers ‘Roll Over Beethoven‘.