Beatles for Free

BEATLES FOR FREE: The Beatles’ first single, “Love Me Do,” has entered the public domain in Europe, since current European Union law says its copyright has expired after 50 years. The “Love Me Do” single, with “P.S. I Love You” the b-side, was first released in 1962, with copyright protection expiring on Dec. 31, 2012. Although there’s a move to extend recording copyrights to 70 years, the revised law won’t come into effect until next November. In the U.S., copyright protection is retained by recordings for up to 95 years. The new law will include a “use it or lose it” provision, meaning labels who hold the rights to recordings released before 1963 must make them available for consumption and purchase, or else the artist can claim control of the copyright. Sony recently released a limited-edition collection of 86 Bob Dylan outtakes in Europe to retain its copyright on the material. A company called Digital Remastering has already taken advantage of the expired copyright on “Love Me Do” by releasing a compilation of early Beatles recordings. The reissue label Pristine Classical also released the song as a remastered single to protest the hassles the extended copyright will cause in its own reissuing of old classical symphonic recordings. (1/14p)