boycott-riaa.com - Article: Beatles Sue Apple For Trademark Name

Beatles Sue Apple For Trademark Name

Posted by Tom Barger on February 27, 2004 at 7:15 AM (printer friendly)

Feb. 27, 2004

Beatles' Apple vs. Apple Computer in trademark suit

LONDON -- Apple Computer and the Beatles' record company Apple Corps went to court Wednesday over who gets to use the fruity name now that the computer company has entered the music business on the Internet. The two companies reached a deal in 1991 after a fight over the trademark, signing an agreement that set out who could use the name and logo, and when. But the British record company says the American computer company broke the deal by using the Apple name to market its new iTunes Internet music service. In a preliminary skirmish on Wednesday, Apple Computer asked the court to rule that the full legal battle should be dealt with by California courts and not courts in England. The computer company's lawyer said that the 1991 agreement allows Apple Computer to use the name for data transmission services, even if the data included material such as music, which was within the record label's "field of use." The hearing, which is scheduled to last three days, coincides with news In the United States that rap superstar Eminem is suing Apple Computer on the grounds it used one of his hit songs in a TV advertisement without his permission. (Reuters)

User Comments (These do not necessarily reflect the beliefs of this site)


twlnki	Date: February 27, 2004 @ 8:45 AM I don't like Apple anymore...

twlnki	Date: February 27, 2004 @ 8:45 AM Apple Computer that is

CodeWarrior	Date: February 27, 2004 @ 9:09 AM Go get em Beatles' Apple Ltd

gdZiemann	Date: February 27, 2004 @ 9:46 AM Yes, let's all cheer as the RIAA attacks the only successful "legal" online music venue there is. Iceberg dead ahead. Full power!!

jsk2001	Date: February 27, 2004 @ 10:31 AM Shouldn't this be the same as the Lindows case? Apple (Eng.)/ Pomme (Fr.) / Manzana (Sp.) These words, which all mean the same thing, should be explained one at a time, as they come from different sources. In regard to apple, all European languages other than the Romance languages, ie., the great majority of Indo-European languages, including the Celtic tongues, use a word with a root ap, ab, af or av for apples and apple trees: aballo (Celtic), apple(Eng.), Apfel (Germ.), aeppel (Old Eng.), abhal (Irish Gaelic), epli (Icelandic), afal (Welsh), jabloko (Russian), and jablko (Polish). In regard to pomme, this French term comes from the Latin pomum, which originally referred to all fruit. Before Christianity was adopted as the official religion of the Roman Empire some time in the 4th. Century, the Latin word malum (melon in Greek) meant "apple." After the adoption of Christianity, however, and due to the important symbolism of the apple in the bible (ie, the Garden of Eden), the general term pomum, "fruit," was used to describe the apple as "the fruit of fruits." In regard to manzana, this Spanish term comes from the Iberian pronunciation of matiana, a Gallo-Roman translation of the Latin word matianum, which was a scented, golden apple first raised by and named after Matius, a friend of Caesar's who was also a cookbook author ["Apple" Footnote: The French village of Avallon (in the Yonne area), where there are a lot of apple trees, received its name from the legend of the sacred island of Avalon or Abalon, meaning "Apple Orchard"--incidentally, the "-on" suffix is an "augmentative" and explains the origin of the name of the Pacific shellfish "Abalone"--that is, "big apple."]. The word apple existed before Steve Jobs and Paul McCartney were ever born.

compmore	Date: February 27, 2004 @ 10:38 AM I guess Steve Jobs doesn't feel he needs permission. they settled twice before with the beatles apple label. guess he figures they'll settle again.

zxilton	Date: February 27, 2004 @ 11:19 AM Man!!! The suing..the suing...the unadulterated suing!!!!! Its almost to the point where ya wouldn't dare go into business now... I mean...my god what is goin on? Have big companies lost their creativy in producing new products so now everybody's suing each other?....What a riot! i hate capitalism. it is a good idea but the misuse of it has made it suck. And because we are human...our temptations get the bestr of us..and ruin it.

purfus	Date: February 27, 2004 @ 12:24 PM I say again.... Weee Whaaa... Wee Whaaa.... Mommy they copied me.....

Gothic-Angel	Date: February 27, 2004 @ 1:46 PM Capitalism good, corporationalism is bad (is that even a word, is now)

spikester	Date: February 27, 2004 @ 4:08 PM /me goes to eat an apple. damnit i infringed a trademark.

awehr	Date: February 27, 2004 @ 5:12 PM im getting really tired of frivolous suits against apple.. expect the apple to bite back.

awehr	Date: February 27, 2004 @ 5:14 PM We need to make sueing into a sport.. put a ring in the courtroom, get a cool announcer guy.. SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY!!!!! its become a national pasttime, why not televise it. put some guys in the ring, whoever comes out on top wins the case! =)

independentm...	Date: February 27, 2004 @ 6:48 PM it already is a spectator sport awehr I'm with George on this one. I gleefully watch them fight among themselves. Hopefully, they will do a substantial part of the job for us. Shmoo

zxilton	Date: February 27, 2004 @ 6:49 PM It's getting so now that it could be a sport. Most of these corporations have so muchmoney that they are BORED...I'm startint to think its some rich bitch game they like to play with each other. I should restate what I said about capitalism. I guess i don't hate it..i just hate what it has it facilitated. It has enabled something such as corporationalism to exist and abuse the public.

PyroHazard	Date: February 27, 2004 @ 7:03 PM Isn't Apple a generic word? BTW, ANY system like captialism and communism can be abused if you exploit it right.

zxilton	Date: February 28, 2004 @ 12:18 AM I don't like communisn either... One day tho..our whole system will collapse anyways...it will finally reach it's breaking point. Prices can only go so high.and so many jobs be cut that the flow of money just doesn't happen anymore. Look at al these new digital services coming out. They are attaching price tags to everything ...people just don't have that kind of income to be able to have stretch on what are becoming necessities in our digital age. For example..ya pay for your intenet connection..soon I wouldn't doubt if you'll be required to pay a separate e-mail fee. Then as greed gets worse..every last site will have have a fee to access it. Ya pay the main fee..thenya pay all the little sub fees to make it worth while...its getting stupid.

formerlurker	Date: February 28, 2004 @ 1:37 AM IMO, most businesses are not actually based on selling services or a product, but on how many competitors they can sue.

DJSupreme23	Date: February 28, 2004 @ 8:30 AM Ha! It's just that Apple - the record company - has lost it's golden boys (the Beatles) and now, like the RIAA, they're going into legalities to save their financial asses.

goldenpi	Date: February 28, 2004 @ 11:03 AM Those two have been fighting on and off for decades. The initial settlement as that Apple Computer could use the Apple name for anything not music-related. Apple Music resumed that arguement a few years later when Apple C made a Mac with a sound output and speakers. They settles again. Apple M got a bit more money, Apple C got an exception for general sound equipment. The two looked set to go again when Apple C started with its "Rip. Mix. Burn" adverts, but confict was narrowly avoided. Now they go again. Usually Apple M demands a large sum of money and Apple C pays up.