Today in 1969, the Beatles performed for the last time as a group on the rooftop of Apple Records in London, a company they started as a subsidiary of Apple Corps. Apple Records was home to artists besides John, Paul, George, and Ringo, including names you will likely hear on heavy rotation on any “oldies” station including Badfinger, Billy Preston, Ronnie Spector, James Taylor, and — to the chagrin of Paul, George, and Ringo, the indefatigable Yoko Ono. A decade later, Apple Records sued Apple Computer over the trademarked apple, eventually settling out of court for $80,000. One condition of the settlement was, remarkably, that Apple Computer would never launch a record company and Apple Corps. would never launch a computer company. Barely a decade later, Apple Corps. sued Apple Computer again over the latter’s inclusion of a sound chip in its Apple iiGS, claiming its music-making capability violated the original agreement. Again, they settled out of court — this time for $26.5 million. Apple Computer said, as a condition of this new agreement, it would not make musical “materials.” If you’ve read this far, you’re probably wondering about iTunes, and you’d be right to wonder — it, too, triggered a suit in the mid-2000s for breach of contract, which was (as you might have guessed) decided in favor of Apple Computer, which has successfully operated its music marketplace and distribution platform. Pictured: a picture of an apple in the public domain, which will not trigger a lawsuit from anyone.
NCPA
