ZumaPress.comNorwegian would if they could.
Beatles fans hoping that a loophole would allow them to finally legally listen to the Fab Four's tunes for free online are going to have to say hello goodbye to a series of Norway radio podcasts.
The blogosphere has been abuzz in recent days after Norwegian public radio network NRK planned 200-plus episodes, each showcasing one of the band's classic songs in its entirely and the history behind it. (Sure, the commentary was in Norwegian, but beggers can't be choosers.)
Although the Beatles' music company Apple has yet to seal a deal to release the band's catalog for download, NRK believed it could get away with the podcasts thanks to an agreement with the International Federation of the Photographic Industry trade group. The deal allowed podcasts to be made out of radio shows broadcast the previous four weeks.
But because the podcasts were taken from Our Daily Beatles, a program NRK aired in 2007, the network was contractually obliged to remove them.
Norway's version of NPR hoped to present a podcast for all 212 episodes of Our Daily Beatles by the end of the month, but managed to give away only 14.
There's still no word on when Apple will finally put the Beatles' music online. In a terse statement, the company would only say the NRK podcasts "are not authorized."
While iTunes and Amazon.com are still without downloadable Moptop tunes, Beatlemaniacs can take some solace in the band licensing their music for a Rock Band-like strum-along video game expected to hit stores around Christmas '09.