In either the most ill-advised or ballsiest moves in recent music litigation history, the company being sued by EMI Records for illegally selling Beatles MP3's claims the tracks are actually NOT the copyright of the label. BlueBeat, the company selling the tracks illegally for 25 cents, actually stated that they hold the copyrights to the songs due to a process called "psycho-acoustic simulation." A Los Angeles federal judge set aside the laughable arguments by Hank Risan, the owner of BlueBeat whose defense was that "he -- and not EMI or the Beatles' Apple Corps. -- owns these sound recordings, because he re-recorded new versions of the songs using what he termed 'psycho-acoustic simulation.'"

Upon listening to BlueBeat's version of the Beatles' "Sun King," it's obvious that it's the same exact version as featured on the group's Abbey Road album.

A Los Angeles federal judge will now rule on whether BlueBeat actually owns new copyrights to the Beatles' sound recordings. A decision is expected in the near future.

Scott Mackenzie, a Dallas copyright attorney said, "They're hosed. That just doesn't make any sense. I don't even see the basis of their theory." (wired.com)

Paul McCartney was happy with the way his October 26th New York City tribute to composer Frank Loesser to benefit the Actor's Fund turned out. He posted a message on his official site (paulmccartney.com) talking about his performance of "On A Slow Boat To China" at the Minskoff Theatre, saying, "Normally I've got a guitar or a piano to help me out, but this time all I had was a hand mic but I had a great time all the same. The event raised more money than had been expected and will benefit members of the acting profession who have fallen on hard times. It was something completely different for me, but I knew the song from family sing-songs when I was a kid and I admire Frank Loesser's writing."

James McCartney, the 32-year-old son and youngest child of Paul and Linda McCartney, issued a press release talking about his recently launched musical career. James will be making his American debut with his band Light on November 14th in Fairfield, Iowa in connection with the David Lynch Foundation and the local Maharishi University of Management. James explained, "I have been playing music since I was nine and writing along the way. I met my band about a year ago. Producer David Kahne introduced us -- and my dad, Paul, helped... The music was inspired by the Beatles, Nirvana, the Cure, PJ Harvey, Radiohead -- and all good music. It is basically rock 'n 'roll, clean sounding, and vocal."

He shed some light on his musical development, saying, "My dad taught me guitar when I was nine. I play a Fender Stratocaster, which Carl Perkins gave me from the seventies, and a Gibson Les Paul that my dad gave me (which is) heart red."

James wrote about his still-unreleased debut album with his band -- which features some Liverpool musicians -- saying, "The words on the album refer to spirituality, love, family, trying to sort out one's own life, and many other things. I have written the songs over a ten-year period."

No release date is set for James McCartney's debut album.