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A federal court has issued a preliminary injunction against the digital music vendor Bluebeat after the site offered up high-quality MP3s of the Beatles’ catalog without permission. According to the Los Angeles Times, the judge overseeing the case, which came after EMI Music and Apple Corps. issued a copyright infringement lawsuit against Bluebeat, said there was no distinct difference between the Beatles’ recordings and the “psychoacoustic simulations” that Bluebeat claims they added to the music that would have allowed them by a legal loophole to sell the Beatles catalog digitally.

Explore the Beatles’ full catalog in our album guide.

As Rolling Stone previously reported, Bluebeat was recently selling the newly remastered Beatles catalog for a mere 25 cents per track on its now-defunct Website, even though the owners of the Fab Four’s music have yet to agree to any digital deal. Bluebeat was also selling the entire Beatles in Mono box set digitally for only $53.25, well below the market value the Beatles would command on either an iTunes or Amazon MP3 store.

Look back at classic photos of the Beatles.

Hank Risan, the defendant and owner of BlueBeat, tells the The Los Angeles Times he had a “secret agreement” with EMI to post the Beatles’ music. “In secret agreement, we worked together to create protected works that would ensure they would get paid royalties. That’s what we did. We were authorized by EMI and the labels and the RIAA to create such works, which we’ve been using for many years. We did this with their permission.”

Risan went on to argue confusingly that even though BlueBeat never asked for approval to post the Beatles songs, they had received permission. “Did we just do this on our own? No. We did it through a very, very controlled process working with all of the labels and the Recording Industry of America in order to create a system that would ensure payment of royalties to copyrights,” Risan said.

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Photo: Mazur/MPL/WireImage

Ringo Starr grabbed a little help from his friends for his new album Y Not, due January 12th, 2010. The Beatles drummer will be joined by his Fab Four bandmate Paul McCartney on a couple of tracks, including first single “Walk With Me,” which finds Macca and Starr sharing vocals. Other guests and songwriters on Y Not, Ringo’s first album since 2008’s Liverpool 8, include Joe Walsh, Joss Stone, Van Dyke Parks, Ben Harper and Richard Marx.

Talking about working with his old Beatles mate, Starr said in a press release, “Paul was doing the Grammys, so he came over to the house and was playing bass on ‘Peace Dream.’ So I played him this other track and Paul said, ‘Give me the headphones. Give me a pair of cans.’ And he went to the mike and he just invented that part where he follows on my vocal. That was all Paul McCartney, and there could be nothing better.”

The illustrated guide to the Beatles’ split.

“He makes it bigger and he makes it fuller,” Starr said of McCartney’s work on “Walk With Me,” which was co-written by Starr and Parks. “It makes the song like a conversation between us, and that was Paul’s idea to do his part one beat behind me. That’s why he’s a gen-i-us and an incredible bass player.” Macca last appeared on a Starr album over a decade ago, on 1998’s Vertical Man. The pair also reunited earlier this year at a benefit concert at Radio City Music Hall.

Ringo’s early days: photos of the Beatles’ remarkable rise.

Y Not also marks Starr’s first major foray into producing. “I was the least involved in the production of the Beatle records. And then with my solo records, ” Starr said. “Then suddenly, it’s another point in your life, and you say, ‘I’m going do this now.’ So I’ll be producing anything I make from now on. That’s the good news. It’s a confidence thing, I suppose. And Y Not is really another way of me saying, ‘Yes, I can.’ ” Y Not also includes the autobiographical “The Other Side of Liverpool” and opening track “Fill in the Blanks,” which features Starr’s brother-in-law, guitarist Joe Walsh.

Get all of Rolling Stone’s essential Beatles coverage.

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Paul McCartney’s 2 CD/DVD set Good Evening New York City, featuring his sold-out three-night stand at Queens, New York’s new Citi Field, isn’t out until next Tuesday, November 17th, but we’ve got an exclusive preview of Macca rocking out in center field with this clip of his Band on the Run joint “Let Me Roll It.” The July 2009 concerts found the Hall of Famer and his band covering 33 songs from his entire catalog — from the Beatles to McCartney to Wings to latest project the Fireman — over the course of two blistering hours and 40 minutes.

Considering the Beatles’ history at Shea Stadium and the fact that McCartney played some of the last notes ever at that now-demolished field, it was fitting that he would be the first artist to perform at the new home of the New York Mets. Among the countless highlights from McCartney’s Citi shows are a collaboration with Billy Joel on “I Saw Her Standing There,” rare performances of “A Day in the Life” and “Day Tripper,” and a medley of Fab Four classics.

To document the concerts, crew members focused 15 cameras on the stage and also distributed 75 Flip cameras throughout the audience to capture all angles of the performances — from first base to the left field line to the upper decks. As an added bonus, the deluxe edition DVD will also include McCartney’s entire performance atop the marquee at New York’s Ed Sullivan Theater for the Late Show With David Letterman.

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Already mastered Abbey Road on The Beatles: Rock Band? As promised, the entire Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band will be available as downloadable content for TB:RB starting November 17th. Sgt. Pepper’s title track, “With A Little Help From My Friends,” “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds,” “Getting Better,” and “Good Morning Good Morning” were previously included in the game’s original release, but the classic LP’s remaining eight tracks, including “A Day in the Life,” will hit Xbox 360s, PS3s and Wiis next week.

Rock Star Avatars: Video Game Versions of Real-Life Music Heroes.

Depending on what video game platform you own, the Sgt. Pepper tracks will be available separately or as a complete package. As Rolling Stone previously reported, Rubber Soul is the next album slated for a Rock Band makeover, with downloadable content being made available in December. Read RS‘ review of The Beatles: Rock Band here.

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As Rolling Stone previously reported, director Robert Zemeckis and Disney brokered a deal that would allow them to re-submerge the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine, turning the 1968 animated film into a performance-capture 3-D digital production. What was at first a Hollywood rumor is now a fact as Zemeckis confirmed to MTV Movies Blog that he’s already working on the script, which he’ll also direct. However, one thing the Back to the Future director doesn’t know is whether Paul McCartney or Ringo Starr will participate in the film.

“We haven’t gotten the word yet on the two surviving Beatles, whether they’re interested in doing it or not,” Zemeckis said after admitting his wish is that Macca and Starr provide the voices for their characters. In the original Yellow Submarine, voice actors played the role of the Beatles, with the Fab Four only appearing in a live-action sequence at film’s end.

Look back at iconic Beatles moments.

Zemeckis plans to utilize the technology he’s previously showcased on films like The Polar Express, Beowulf and this weekend’s Disney’s A Christmas Carol starring Jim Carrey. “I think Yellow Submarine is a perfect example of a movie that can be re-envisioned in the digital cinema and be absolutely beyond spectacular,” Zemeckis told MTV. Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers isn’t exactly the biggest fan of this type of filmmaking, often arguing that film’s live-action transition to digital CGI often leaves the characters with dead, emotionless eyes (see his review of A Christmas Carol).

The Beatles’ complete album guide.

As Rolling Stone previously reported, Yellow Submarine is eying a 2012 release that will coincide with the Summer Olympic games in London. A musical based on the film may also spawn out of Zemeckis and Disney’s deal.

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