And for your dose of legal drama this week, there's a little more action in that Beatles vs. Apple lawsuit that's been kind of quiet for the past few weeks. You may recall that the last real dirt we heard on the matter was that some "unnamed source" was quoted by everyone from Variety to Bass & Walleye Boats Magazine as saying that a settlement was right around the corner and it would be the biggest non-class action settlement in history. Actual named legal experts later claimed that was about as likely as Ringo shaving his head, painting it purple, and spending a year clinging to a vine "to see how grapes live," but hey, it made for some fun speculation.

So now the question is, was the original report so far off the mark? Because faithful viewer Frank Davis informs us that Apple has apparently just fired the entire legal team that had been handling the case; according to "reports on the Web" cited by PC Pro, the company told Linklaters to take a hike because the law firm had "suggested a record-breaking settlement of around $36 million." Apple evidently thinks it has a stronger case than that (and based on our ignorant layperson analysis of the terms of the original agreement, so do we), so it's retained the services of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer to keep fighting the good fight. If nothing else, the new firm's got a much cooler name.

Granted, "reports on the Web" aren't inherently any more trustworthy than "unnamed sources," but we take what we can get. Anyway, we'll know soon enough, because a change of lawyers surely must be a matter of public record, as will be the delay in the start of the trial now that Apple has hired new representation. Here's hoping that the new lawyers show less of a propensity to roll over and spend its clients' money instead of slugging it out in court and giving us all the trial drama entertainment to which we're so obviously entitled.

As for that $36 million figure getting tossed around, does anyone else look at that and think, "not too shabby"? Especially if it includes Apple getting temporary exclusive rights to putting the Beatles catalog on the iTunes Music Store, and especially especially if the agreement makes this recurring hassle go away forever, e.g. Apple gains the right to use its trade mark on any flippin' product it wants, up to and including music downloads, music players, music media, musical instruments, Broadway musicals (including but not limited to The Music Man), musical fruit, and musical chairs. After all, Apple's got five or six billion in cash sitting around, so what's $36 mil for carte blanche to do what it wants in one of its fastest growing markets? But that's why you're the judge and we're the law-talkin' guys.