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Thursday, 12 April 2007, 11:00 GMT 12:00 UK

Beatles settle EMI royalties row

The Beatles The Beatles have agreed a deal with music giant EMI to settle the band's battle for £30m in unpaid royalties.

Sir Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison took legal action in 2005, claiming money from album sales.

"I can confirm that we have reached a mutually acceptable settlement and that we are not going to say anything more than that," an EMI spokeswoman said.

The agreement could now pave the way for legal downloads of the band's hits.

The settlement ends 18 months of legal proceedings, which began after two years of negotiations.

Neil Aspinall When the case began, Neil Aspinall, head of the Beatles' company Apple Corps, said EMI was "ignoring their obligations and duty to account fairly and with transparency".

Mr Aspinall, the man responsible for the Beatles' business affairs, has just left the company after more than 40 years with the band.

The 64-year-old oversaw releases like the Anthology series and has been credited with a number of shrewd financial moves.

Mr Aspinall was behind several other legal cases brought on the band's behalf - including the recently settled dispute with Apple Computers over the Apple name and logo.

Last week, EMI said it was still in discussions with Apple Corps over the use of Beatles songs online.



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Related to this story:
'Fifth Beatle' quits Apple Corps (11 Apr 07 |  Entertainment )
Deal ends Beatles' Apple battle (05 Feb 07 |  Entertainment )
Will EMI unlock music revolution? (04 Apr 07 |  Entertainment )
Rock stars to recreate Sgt Pepper (06 Apr 07 |  Entertainment )
EMI rejects £2.1bn takeover bid (03 Mar 07 |  Business )
Beatles sue EMI in royalties row (16 Dec 05 |  Entertainment )

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