When music site BlueBeat decided to offer The Beatles tracks for $0.25 each, as Staci wrote this week, it knew it would be controversial.  “If you believe in good faith that materials hosted by BlueBeat infringe your copyright .. you (or your agent) may send us a notice requesting that the material be removed, or access to it blocked,” its website read.

Well, EMI Music, which holds the rights to the catalogue, is taking BlueBeat up on the offer. It’s filed suit against BlueBeat for because it has “not authorised content to be sold” on the site, the label tells BBC News.

You’ll have gathered by now that, despite a big digital remastering that went live through vinyl, CD, video game and even an apple-shaped USB, The Fab Four’s life work is not available online - legally, at least.

The sticking point - The Beatles’ Apple Corps holding company wants to be paid for lost sales by EMI if consumers then share the MP3 files online, Paul McCartney recently said.

BlueBeat is the latest site to go on a particularly litigious EMI’s online copyright hitlist. It’s previously sued Grooveshark, MP3Tunes, Seeqpod and others.