Beatles' back catalogue taken offline

An attempt to make the Beatles' back catalogue available for legal download has been axed.

Earlier this week, Norwegian radio station NRK announced that it was posting 212 Beatles' tracks online in the form of individual podcasts, each preceded by around three minutes of discussion.

However, the plans have now been cancelled because the podcasts would have breached the broadcaster's agreement with the rights holder.

"Due to terms still under negotiation, our own lawyers have advised us to pull back the podcasts," said NRK technology adviser Oyvind Solstad. "This is not how we would like things to be... But we can't break our agreements."

NRK made a deal with TONO, who own the rights to work recorded by Norwegian artists, to make their archive material available as free downloads online. However, their agreement with the IFPI, who own the rights to the Beatles' back catalogue, only allowed for podcasts of programmes aired within the last month.

The original documentary series Our Daily Beatles, which spawned the potential podcasts, was broadcast in 2007 and thus ineligible under the deal.

Solstad revealed that NRK had opted to reject a possible loophole by deciding not to re-broadcast the documentary series, saying: "We could have done it, but choose not to. I think the record company would have tried to stop it anyway."

The Beatles' back catalogue has never been made available as a legal download and Sir Paul McCartney admitted last year that talks to release their songs on iTunes had "stalled".