A strange thing happened yesterday. The Beatles, only two of whom are currently living, released an album of new music. Technically it was old music, but to most listeners, it was new. The release, rumors of which leaked last week, features recordings the band made in 1963. The album appeared quietly yesterday on iTunes in Australia, New Zealand, Japan, other parts of Asia, before quickly disappearing. It never appeared in the iTunes store in America, and reports are not clear if it ever will.
So why are the Beatles releasing albums with little to no publicity? It’s due to the European Union’s new copyright law, which, according to the New York Times, is getting ready to extend copyright protection from 50 to 70 years, “but only for recordings that were published within 50 years after they were made.” Hence, the Beatles are releasing a collection of never-before released recordings from 1963. If the material is not released before the end of the year, it will lose its copyright protection.
The Fab Four are not the only musicians quietly dumping material in a bid to protect their songs. Bob Dylan, who has been releasing a “Bootleg Series” of albums featuring unreleased material over the last decade, has also been releasing unheard recordings and outtakes on albums, some with limited runs of 100 copies. The Beach Boys and Motown records have also released albums featuring unpublished material recently, in an attempt to sidestep the new law.
For diehard fans, many of the recordings by these artists have traded hands on bootlegs over the years, and it appears many of these new releases will have a similar fate. You can purchase a copy of “The 50th Anniversary Collection,” a set released by Bob Dylan last year in a limited run, for almost $2,000.
