How (Not) To Sell Beatles MP3s, Part 2

I previously talked about a bizarre story about a company named BlueBeat selling Beatles MP3s for 25 cents each. Today, shortly after the matter went to court, the judge issued a summary beatdown by making a permanent injunction, saying:

Defendants deliberately obfuscate them, relying on technobabble and doublespeak rather than evidence or legal authority… If there were any remaining doubt, it is put to rest by the testimony of Plaintiffs' head of technology, who confirmed that the digital files being distributed and publicly performed by Defendants are copies of Plaintiff's recordings, with only minor technical variations consistent with the process by which recordings are compressed into (i.e., copied into) digital MP3 files.

Let it be known now that the mere process of recording an MP3 does not constitute a new work, even in the eyes of the court. Although no decisions have been made yet, this is surely a sign of the final verdict by the judge.