The Beatles released a new rarities collection, “The Beatles Bootleg Recordings 1963”, on iTunes Tuesday in an effort to stop them from falling out of copyright and into the public domain.
The BBC reports the band issued the 59-track collection – which features unreleased outtakes, demos and BBC sessions from 1963 – to avoid copyright issues as European Union (EU) copyright law covers recordings for 70 years if they have had an official release or 50 years if they have not.
If The Beatles chose not to release the recordings before the end of the year, other record labels could theoretically put them out and profit from them next year.
After a recent change in the EU law, the master tape for The Beatles' 1963 debut album, “Please Please Me”, is protected by copyright until 2033, but the unreleased session tapes for that album are not.
The band's 1962 debut single, “Love Me Do”, arguably slipped out of copyright last year before the EU's copyright extension was signed into law.
The copyright law in question only covers the recordings - the composition of the songs remains the copyright of the songwriter for 70 years after his or her death.
The tracks had been widely bootlegged, but never officially released until now.
The Beatles will be honored with the U.S. Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award at a special ceremony the night before the 56th Annual Grammys in January.
The Beatles have been nominated for 25 Grammy Awards through the years; they have won 7 Grammys and have 15 recordings inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame, including “Abbey Road”, “A Hard Day's Night”, “The Beatles (White Album)”, “Meet The Beatles!”, “Revolver”, “Rubber Soul”, and “Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.”
The 56th Annual Grammy Awards will be held January 26, 2014 at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and broadcast live on CBS from 8–11:30 p.m. (ET/PT).
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