for those willing to be PIRATES and thieves... I'm not.
100% agreed.
I'm the biggest Beatles fan I know, have been since I was in junior high in the mid-60's. I've got them on vinyl, I've got them on CDs, I've got a few old 8-tracks of 'em...
And I ripped my CD's to MP3s rather than download illegal files.
I will not download copyrighted material -- even though I hate the RIAA and MPAA and DRM -- because no compensation gets to the artists that way, not even the tiny dribble that they get from the physical media sales.
Screw the RIAA, but not the artists.
Politics aside, even Yoko aside, I'm still a Beatles fan. Some of the best music I've heard in my entire life.
Fine...what if someone takes their newly-remastered Beatles CDs and undertakes the Herculean task of creating MP3s from them and then undertakes a second Herculean task of loading them into one’s iPod?
And please don’t misuse the term piracy just because others do same.
Moreover my point was an economic one. Apple Corps Ltd. assume that digital versions of the music are not currently available and therefore they badly overestimate their bargaining power.
Those who fork over $90 for a used mono pressing LP are denying the Beatles money for the music they listen to.
Garth Brooks realized artists get denied full tracking (and dividend) of album sales when there is a heavy used market that exists. In the 1990s he tried to coerce his label not to stock his albums at any store that sold used CDs (and there were some large chains that did this).
I have not the slightest tingle of remorse for downloading 40 year old tunes. NONE of it should be under copyright anymore.