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   CLUB SANDWICH 46

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Club Sandwich 46

CD's STOP PRESS

            Many readers will know that HMV record shops have marketed special limited edition boxes for the release of each Beatles CD. EMI have co-operated, so the boxes have variously contained exclusive booklets, posters, badges etc.
            The first four albums came in one jumbo box and, at 15,000,
Sgt. Pepper had the biggest run. The other boxes came in quantities from 2,500 to 7,500, often selling out on the first day. Yellow Submarine was again the dark horse: perhaps it was the submarine badge that did it!
            Now HMV have excelled themselves with the last two 'proper' albums,
Abbey Road and Let It Be, released on 19th October. The Abbey Road box (12,000 available) contains a badge and two posters, one a blow-up of the record cover and one of the famous road sign. (Westminster City Council will be pleased if this cuts demand for the real thing.) But the real scoop is an alternative shot of the Beatles on the zebra crossing -with Paul wearing shoes, so he can't be dead after all! (We are sorry if this upset younger readers: Paul's shoelessness and 'signs' found elsewhere in the Beatles' output led some fruitcake to start a rumour that he'd died and been replaced by a somehow equally talented lookalike.) Also reproduced is Paul's sketch outlining his idea for the cover photo.
            Let It Be has been in a limited edition box before, on its first release in 1970. Today copies change hands for three-figure sums (that's pounds sterling), the accompanying booklet being very highly prized. HMV have not reproduced this, but their box does contain the next best thing: a new 12-page booklet containing seven photos from the original, taken by Ethan Russell who also did the White Album snaps and many of the Stones. 10,000 Let It Be boxes have been produced.
            Angry comments from Paul about the Japanese 'pirate' CD's have appeared in the national press. Due to Japanese copyright laws, the Beatles have no control over their quality and receive no royalties.
Club Sandwich consulted Gareth Hopkins of EMI's Business Affairs departments discover the latest position. "We obtained an import ban via MCPS (the Mechanical Copyright Protection Society), which needed the agreement of the BPI (British Phonographic Industry). There was no problem with this, since these Japanese compact discs infringe our copyright laws.
            "They can only be made by copying our discs or cassettes, or possibly by copying the Toshiba-EMI CD's available in Japanese shops, which use the master tapes here at Abbey Road. Toshiba-EMI
have launched a two-fold campaign, both lobbying the government to change the copyright laws and publicizing the poor quality of the 'pirate' CD's, which of course are not 'pirates' under Japanese law.
            "Copyright there lasts twenty years after first release in Japan. In the UK, copyright in record royalties lasts fifty years after first release and fifty years after death for publishing royalties. The 'pirates' sell for 75% to 80% of the official CDs' price. Many stores are cooperating with Toshiba-EMI to maintain a good long-term relationship with the company."
            If not illegal in Japan, these unauthorized CD's seem expensive for inferior copies. Until the law is changed, this small price difference and the retailers' good sense should minimize losses for the Beatles and EMI.