Taking Names

Macca, EMI work it out

In a prelude to the expected release of authorized Beatles music downloads, EMI Group yesterday said it’s preparing a reissue campaign of Sir Paul McCartney’s solo catalog that will include digital downloads, Forbes.com reports.

Mr. McCartney — one of two living members of the Fab Four — is one of the last major recording artists not to make his albums available as authorized downloads. Led Zeppelin, AC/DC and the Beatles are among the very few remaining digital holdouts.

The EMI reissue campaign will encompass Mr. McCartney’s solo catalog and his work with his post-Beatles band Wings, extending from 1970’s “McCartney”through his 2005 disc “Chaos & Creation in the Backyard.”

Mr. McCartney recently signed with Starbucks and Concord Music Group’s new label, Hear Music.

Hear will release his forthcoming album, “Memory Almost Full,” on June 5 in the U.S. Mr. McCartney will still record classical music works for EMI.

Boldly going nowhere

Will “CSI: NY” star Gary Sinise boldly go where no actor has tread before, into the shoes of “Star Trek’s” Dr. Leonard “Bones” McCoy?

The Internet has been abuzz with news that Matt Damon, Adrien Brody and Mr. Sinise would portray the young Captain Kirk, Spock and McCoy, respectively, in a new “Trek” feature from J.J. Abrams (“Lost”).

Sure, Mr. Sinise bears a passing resemblance to DeForest Kelley, the late actor who made Dr. McCoy famous with lines such as, “He’s dead, Jim,” and “I’m a doctor, not a bricklayer.”

However, Mr. Sinise curtly ended such talk during a recent interview with The Washington Times about his participation in the first GI Film Festival, heading to town Memorial Day weekend.

“Bad rumor,” Mr. Sinise said.

Fightin’ words

Best-selling crime writer Patricia Cornwell has filed a libel lawsuit against another author and is asking a federal judge to bar him from posting defamatory messages about her on the Internet, Associated Press reports.

Miss Cornwell wants the court to enforce an injunction issued in 2000 against Leslie R. Sachs and seeks a broader ban to prevent Mr. Sachs from continuing to write negatively about her on Web sites or allowing such statements to remain on those sites. She also seeks unspecified financial compensation for defamatory postings since Aug. 14, 2000.

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