We knew it was too crafty to be true - Norwegian public radio network NRK, which on Monday began giving away The Beatles’ entire back catalogue as podcast downloads, last night pulled the endeavour after realising the whole thing is probably illegal.

SEE ALSO: Beatles Back Catalogue Online For Free: In Norwegian, For One Month Only

The International Federation of the Phonographic Industry (IFPI) labels’ umbrella told paidContent:UK: “IFPI Norway entered into an agreement on behalf of all its members with NRK in April 2008 which allows the broadcaster to podcast programmes that are less than 70 percent music for four weeks after they are originally broadcast.  These six-minute programmes were broadcast in 2007, so didn’t come under that agreement.  The agreement was for 2008 and is due to be renewed in 2009, although it hasn’t been yet.  EMI retains the rights to license The Beatles recordings and IFPI was acting on behalf of its members in this case.”

NRK technology adviser Oyvind Solstad (via PA): “We had a very good and open agreement with the Norwegian composers and people forgot that we need to have the same agreement with the record companies. We could have aired the whole thing and then podcast it, but I think the record company would have tried to stop it anyway; there’s something in the agreement where they can exclude certain artists.”

Since The Beatles’ Apple Corps holding company is highly litigious, having previous disputes with both EMI and the other Apple (NSDQ: AAPL), it was hardly worth NRK persisting. The website was updated thusly last night: “Due to terms still being under negotiation, our own lawyers have advised us to pull back the podcasts containing The Beatles music.” Thus, the long, and increasingly tiresome, wait for The Fab Four to go online continues…