# When is Apple Records going to sue the pants off of Apple Computer? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 8, 2005, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-apple-records-going-to-sue-the-pants-off-of-apple-computer/289055 "2005-02-08T20:08:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-apple-records-going-to-sue-the-pants-off-of-apple-computer/289055/1 "2005-02-08T20:08:47Z")
Being a former Mac evangelist, one of the things that always amused me was the settlement between the Beatles’ record label and the fledgling computer company, promising that Apple Computer would stick to computers and never get into the music industry. With iTunes store, this has clearly gone out the window IMHO. Has this been settled already? Does anyone really care,(and/or know what time it is)? ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-apple-records-going-to-sue-the-pants-off-of-apple-computer/289055/2 "2005-02-08T20:23:36Z")
[Two Apples Head Back to Court](http://www.forbes.com/2003/09/12/cx_ah_0912aapl.html) (Sept. 2003) [Music branding battle hits bum note for Apple](http://www.guardian.co.uk/online/news/0,12597,1304179,00.html) (Sept. 2004) [As of January 2005 this suit has not yet been resolved.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apple_Computer) ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-apple-records-going-to-sue-the-pants-off-of-apple-computer/289055/3 "2005-02-08T21:35:06Z")
IANAL, but I believe the resolution will hinge on the judge deciding on whether the iTunes Music Store is a distribution system for _music,_ or for _electronic data._ ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [February 8, 2005, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-apple-records-going-to-sue-the-pants-off-of-apple-computer/289055/4 "2005-02-08T23:59:41Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > IANAL, but I believe the resolution will hinge on the judge deciding on whether the iTunes Music Store is a distribution system for _music,_ or for _electronic data._ Talk about splitting hairs on an atomic level. Universal doesn’t distribute music either, they just sign artists, have it recorded, and sell pieces of plastic that people put in CD players. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![rjung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/45deac/32.png) [@rjung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rjung)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-apple-records-going-to-sue-the-pants-off-of-apple-computer/289055/5 "2005-02-09T00:16:52Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > Talk about splitting hairs on an atomic level. Universal doesn’t distribute music either, they just sign artists, have it recorded, and sell pieces of plastic that people put in CD players. 😃 Hey, we _are_ talking about lawyers… 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-apple-records-going-to-sue-the-pants-off-of-apple-computer/289055/6 "2005-02-09T00:33:51Z")
> [@CynicalGabe](#): > > Talk about splitting hairs on an atomic level. Universal doesn’t distribute music either, they just sign artists, have it recorded, and sell pieces of plastic that people put in CD players. 😃 Yeah, but the suit sounds like it comes down to “new media” clauses in the original agreements and what constitutes an “audio recording” and on what media. Newer contracts have more explicit stuff for “media now known or later devised.” So I imagine they’ll squabble over the wording of the last few decisions. They’ll come to some kind of agreement in the end. Apple and Apple have had squabbles in the past and have sorted it out well enough before. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-apple-records-going-to-sue-the-pants-off-of-apple-computer/289055/7 "2005-02-09T02:38:10Z")
> [@](#): > > The 1991 settlement outlines the rights each company has to the Apple trademark. While Apple Corps was given the right to use the name on any “creative works whose principal content is music”, Apple Computer was given the right to use the name on “goods or services…used to reproduce, run, play or otherwise deliver such content,” but not on content distributed on physical media. [1] From the Wikipedia article. It sounds like it is a little less nitpicky than music vs. data. ---
**Author:** ![Augie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@Augie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Augie)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-apple-records-going-to-sue-the-pants-off-of-apple-computer/289055/8 "2005-02-09T02:59:48Z")
I think someone should have sued the Beatles for corrupting the name of an insect and then taking the good name of a fruit. It would be funny if Dr Pepper ran their ass ragged for using their name on the Sgt Pepper album. ---
**Author:** ![Augie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/4da419/32.png) [@Augie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Augie)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-apple-records-going-to-sue-the-pants-off-of-apple-computer/289055/9 "2005-02-09T03:01:39Z")
And those Macs. Is that a little dig at Paul McCartney? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-apple-records-going-to-sue-the-pants-off-of-apple-computer/289055/10 "2005-02-09T03:42:56Z")
> [@rjung](#): > > Hey, we _are_ talking about lawyers… 😉 In the same way as a discussion about baseballers is a discussion about bats. ---
**Author:** ![Mentor\_and\_Liar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/2acd7d/32.png) [@Mentor\_and\_Liar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mentor_and_Liar)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-apple-records-going-to-sue-the-pants-off-of-apple-computer/289055/11 "2005-02-09T06:59:05Z")
> [@Augie](#): > > And those Macs. > Is that a little dig at Paul McCartney? 😃 No but the OS-9 system sound, Sosumi, is. ---
**Author:** ![Zakalwe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zakalwe/32/270_2.png) [@Zakalwe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zakalwe)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-apple-records-going-to-sue-the-pants-off-of-apple-computer/289055/12 "2005-02-09T12:20:45Z")
> [@Mentor and Liar](#): > > No but the OS-9 system sound, Sosumi, is. I thought it was dig at Sagan because he bitched about them using his name as a pre-release code name for one of the OS versions. ---
**Author:** ![wheelie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b4bc9f/32.png) [@wheelie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wheelie)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-apple-records-going-to-sue-the-pants-off-of-apple-computer/289055/13 "2005-02-09T13:49:20Z")
> [@Zakalwe](#): > > I thought it was dig at Sagan because he bitched about them using his name as a pre-release code name for one of the OS versions. IIRC, Apple was going to use his name as a code-name for an early (pre-g3) PowerMac, which was later changed to “BHA” (Butt-Head Astronomer). ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-apple-records-going-to-sue-the-pants-off-of-apple-computer/289055/14 "2005-02-09T14:01:39Z")
Is there some trademark test that determines the likely fame of a trademark? Meaning, I think Apple Music is getting more benefit from the Apple trademark (it’s no longer “Apple Computer”) than Apple is getting from the Apple Music trademark. My company lost the name of a car because a little parts store has the name of a tire line that’s the same. Totally unrelated, like me opening McDonald’s hardware, you know? Plus, I drive a Continental in the 'States, and there’s a tire line of the same name. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-apple-records-going-to-sue-the-pants-off-of-apple-computer/289055/15 "2005-02-09T16:23:15Z")
How about Steve Jobs opens the checkbook and says “I want to buy you” to Apple Records? ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-apple-records-going-to-sue-the-pants-off-of-apple-computer/289055/16 "2005-02-09T16:39:51Z")
Feh. The worst thing about the Beatles is their lawyers. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [February 9, 2005, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-is-apple-records-going-to-sue-the-pants-off-of-apple-computer/289055/17 "2005-02-09T20:17:53Z")
> [@gotpasswords](#): > > How about Steve Jobs opens the checkbook and says “I want to buy you” to Apple Records? With 4.5 billion in cash, he certainly could. Then he could offer much-discounted Beatles songs on iTunes music store since he wouldn’t be paying royalties. Hmm. Not a bad idea.